Crippled tiger saved in Amur region can't go back to wild
MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) - The 8-year-old crippled male Amur tiger, which was found in the Arkharinsky district of the Amur region, will not be able to go back into the wild and will be placed in a rehabilitation center for predators in the Far East, the press service for the Russian Natural Resources Ministry has reported.
"The animal could have been injured, which led to the temporary paralysis and fracture of its hind legs. The cause of the injury suffered by the predator, which is in the Red Book of Endangered Animals, is being determined," Vitaly Timchenko, the head of the Natural Resources Ministry's special inspection Tiger, who took part in the rescue operation, said.
Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi has ordered Rosprirodnadzor to consider placing the Amur tiger in a special rehabilitation center where animals are kept in conditions close to natural, the ministry has reported.
According to earlier reports, local residents found footprints of an Amur tiger in the Arkharinsky district in late January. The animal was dragging its hind legs behind him. Donskoi asked the Amur region's Governor Oleg Kozhemyako for assistance in saving the animal.
As a result, the sick tiger was taken to Blagoveshchensk, Jewish autonomous region, where it underwent a medical evaluation. The animal is currently under the control of veterinarians.
"The animal has received all necessary veterinary assistance: it has undergone a body-section tomography and the necessary tests have been performed. The information has been sent to a relevant institute in Moscow, which will make a decision on the matter," the Natural Resources Ministry has reported.
The test results will be provided to the Natural Resources Ministry, which will make a decision on the future of the tiger.
Donskoi has ordered Rosprirodnadzor to conduct tentative consultations with the largest rehabilitation centers and zoological parks in the Far East on the possibility of keeping the animal on the territory of such establishments.