Bizarre Behavior in Endangered Tigers Traced to Dog Virus

A rare breed of tigers in Russia has been spotted behaving bizarrely for more than a decade, and now researchers say they may know why.

The majestic, endangered felines have stumbled into villages and roads, emaciated and unafraid of people. Eventually, most of the tigers died, or had to be killed.

Now a new study shows these Amur tigers (also called Siberian tigers) suffered from a fatal neurological infection called canine distemper virus.

The virus, which normally infects domestic dogs, may be responsible for the deaths of at least 1 percent of Amur tigers since 2009, the researchers said. 

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