A Siberian tiger spread terror in a small village in far northeast China, bordering Russia, by attacking a car and pouncing on a peasant, state media reported on Monday.
Watch the video: China: Siberian tiger spreads panic in village
The juvenile male tiger was spotted on Friday while roaming near Linhu village in Heilongjiang province, according to The Paper (based in Shanghai), which cites local police. "
He then went to two villagers working in a field,
" said a witness, Wang Xue, who had come by car to pick up a relative. "
I shouted at them to flee, but the tiger then ran straight in my direction,
" said the witness, quoted by the Beijing News in a video published on Sunday. "
In two or three seconds he ran and threw himself at my car, clawing at it with his huge paws
." The exterior of the car was badly scuffed and the rear passenger window shattered. “
I was terrified
Wang said, saying "
still suffer from heart problems
" following the incident. Neither passenger in the car was injured. Video footage also shows the tiger leaping at a villager working in a nearby field, before fleeing. Also according to the media, the unfortunate was only slightly injured. Police then managed to corner and subdue the animal using tranquilizer darts.
According to a report released by the Heilongjiang Forestry Bureau on Monday, the big cat was quarantined for 45 days at the Hengdaohezi Cat Breeding Center in Mudanjiang City. Siberian tigers are native to Russia and parts of northeast China. According to the state newspaper Global Times, fewer than 500 are believed to be left in the wild due to poaching, and fewer than 30 are in China. Conservationists in China and Russia are trying to protect the species. Rarely do tigers venture into areas frequented by humans.
