Vietnamese man arrested in Russia with body of Siberian tiger

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Leya Musa

Russian police have raided premises in Moscow and arrested a Vietnamese citizen with the head and skin of a critically endangered Siberian tiger.

Following a search of the property they also found 59 big cat teeth and four bones. They are currently awaiting expert identification on these body parts to determine if they came from a tiger or from the critically endangered amur leopard.

If suspicions that the teeth have come from an amur leopard this would be devastating for conservation plans as less than 50 are thought to remain in the wild.

Vietnam is a major consumer country that is leading to large losses of wildlife across the world.

CITES 2016 should not be a time for discussion of a legal rhino horn trade but for the CITES community to pull together and issue an immediate trade ban against Vietnam until it is able to control the demand of illegal wildlife products and body parts of endangered wildlife in it’s borders.

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Putin's tiger the main suspect in mystery China goat deaths: Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Siberian tiger released into the wild by Russian President Vladimir Putin is the main suspect in a series of goat deaths in China's northeast, state media reported Chinese local authorities as saying on Tuesday.

Siberian tiger experts have pegged Ustin, one of three tigers freed by Putin, as the killer of two goats, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Three goats are still missing.

According to a Xinhua witness, the dead goats' skulls had been crushed with puncture holes "the size of a human finger clearly visible".

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China on the lookout for Putin's roaming tiger

9th October 2014

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is on the hunt for a Siberian tiger released into the wild by Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media said on Thursday, after the animal roamed across the border, likely in search of food.

The tiger, named Kuzia, was one of three of the rare wild cats that Putin helped release into Russia's remote Amur region in eastern Siberia in May.

Tagged with a tracking device, it has been spotted in China's Taipinggou nature reserve in northeastern Heilongjiang province, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing officials.

"A Russian expert called to tell us the location of the tiger and expressed the hope that we can protect it," nature reserve director Chen Zhigang told Xinhua.

Chen said forestry officers would set up dozens of cameras to capture images of the tiger and notify local farmers.

The tiger should find plenty of food among the reserve's wildlife, Chen said, though officials were prepared to "release cattle" into the area to feed it.

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