Desperate Wild Tigress Sought Help From Humans

Defying her natural instincts to avoid humans, the tigress intentionally went to them for help

Kylin

• Published in Animals
• May 8, 2022

Siberian tigers aren’t known for their particularly friendly-towards-humans behavior. What with being an apex predator that’s been poached for hundreds of years for its fur and teeth and all.

This rare predator, one of only 350-400 Siberian tigers left in the wild, typically lives in the snowy forests of eastern Russia, avoiding any and all contact with humans.  So, it was quite a remarkable occurrence when a tigress, exhausted and desperate for help, made her way into a remote village in the Khabarovsk region of Russia.

She settled herself on a random porch, blocking the door, and waited. The resident, Alexey Khaideyev found the massive, unexpected guest in the early morning hours, and after it was clear that she was not going to budge, he called emergency services to come help.

Experts rushed to the aid of the tigress, sedating her in order to safely transport her to an animal rehabilitation center in Alekseevka village, located in the Primorsky region. There they discovered the tigress was about 10 years old, and suffering from severe dental issues, she was missing her upper teeth, and her gums were infected.

In spite of her obvious dental problems, it was a relief for the care team when they could find no signs of injury caused by firearms or people in general. Keep scrolling to read more about this tigress’ story, and see pictures and a video from her rescue.

A neighbor, Galina Tsimano (pictured), explained that her neighbor who lived on the outskirts of the village came to find the big cat on his porch in the early morning hours.

“Alexey Khaideyev came across a tiger on his porch,” she said. “He and his wife and grandmother live on the outskirts of the village, near the river and forest. He wanted to go out to the yard in the morning, but his door was pressed by 'someone' from outside.”

"The tiger spent all the day on Alexey's porch until the emergency team arrived."

“He began to push the door and heard a tiger growling. He went back inside and started calling all the emergency services,” Tsminao continued. “The tiger spent all the day on Alexey's porch until the emergency team arrived.”

The emergency team of Amur Tiger Centre

Sergey Aramilev, Director of the Amur Tiger Centre, shared: “The animal was extremely exhausted, but there were no visible injuries from firearms. However, there are problems with her oral cavity. The tigress behaved absolutely peacefully as if she was waiting for human help. Nevertheless, the condition of a rare predator is severe and it needs urgent action.”

The tigress was sedated in order to be safely transported

“We will not hide that the situation with the tigress is sad. Now everything depends on her. In her current physical condition, it is deadly to put her under an anesthetic, yet without this, it is impossible to carry out 'active' treatment.” Aramilev continued.

“The animal, though she came for help, does not allow us to approach her. Now even injections are carried out remotely. We really hope that the tigress will pick herself up and survive. For our part, we are doing everything possible.”

"She has serious gum problems and there are no upper teeth."

Yury Kolpak, head conservationist at the Ministry of Natural Resources explained: “The tigress is thoroughly exhausted. She has serious gum problems and there are no upper teeth. It is likely her tiredness is due to being unable to eat properly. Now it is very important to provide the predator with qualified assistance.”

The rescue team put her on a diet of ground meat laced with antibiotics and were hopeful that would help her regain her strength and aid in her recovery.

The elderly tigress was making some improvements under the care of those at the Amur Tiger Centre, eating mashed food and regaining her strength.

Siberian tiger pictured in Khabarovsk region

You can watch officials care for the tigress below

Sadly, there wasn't a happy ending to this story

Unfortunately, she eventually stopped eating and succumbed to her illnesses and elderly age, and passed away. "Age and illnesses took over," said Viktor Kuzmenko of the Amur Tiger Centre.

"Vets did everything they could, sadly, the tigress couldn't fight her illness. She was in a hopeless state, extremely exhausted, there even was no fat on her heart," he continued "Nothing could have saved her. The tigress didn't have injuries or wounds caused by people. Her illness had natural origins. Because of the illness, the tigress couldn't move normally, which caused her inability to hunt."

Despite the heartbreaking loss of this tigress, this species is starting to regain its numbers thanks to major efforts made in order to protect the animal. And there's some sort of comfort still to be found in her story, that there are more humans that care for the well-being of these endangered animals than those who want to cause them harm.

Kylin