A man who came face-to-face with a rare Siberian tiger has unveiled his unusual technique to force the dangerous cat to turn tail.
Video shared on Telegram shows the moment the man encounters the wild cat on a snow-covered road in Primorye, Russia last week.
Instead of rushing off in fear, the unnamed local firmly stands his ground and unleashes a wave of profanities at the creature as it walks towards him.
‘****, where are you going,’ the man shouts in Russian, adding: ‘B****, standing and watching.’
The tiger, apparently reacting to the man’s foul language, hesitates for a moment before it slowly retreats into the forest.
At least three people have been mauled to death by wild Siberian tigers this winter in Russia‘s far east Primorye and Khabarovsk regions, according to The Moscow Times.
The Siberian tiger is the world’s largest cat, but with only an estimated 400 left in the wild, the species is considered endangered.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long fought for efforts to protect the species and even established a foundation for their conservation in 2013.
The local came face-to-face with the tiger whilst walking along a road in the village of Vasilkovka, Spassky district last Friday. Instead of rushing off in fear, the unnamed local firmly stood his ground and unleashed a wave of profanities at the creature as it walked towards him
The tiger, apparently reacting to the man’s foul language, hesitated for a moment before it slowly retreated into the forest
The foul-mouthed local came face-to-face with the tiger whilst walking along a road in the village of Vasilkovka, Spassky district, the Vladivostok News Telegram channel reports.
The video, which the man recorded himself, was shared posted to the Telegram Channel on Saturday. Sources reportedly say the encounter occurred one day prior.
‘He told the tiger several times to go into the forest,’ the post states. ‘To which he obeyed and a minute later walked into the forest with an important gait.’
The encounter comes just weeks after a park ranger was killed by a Siberian tiger in Udegeyskaya Legenda National Park.
Andrei Kovera, 55, was attacked on March 11 while he and his assistant were deep in an unpopulated area of the forest.
The tiger ‘crept up and attacked one of the men from behind,’ the Moscow Times reports, citing the Primorye region’s Natural Resources Ministry.
Kovera’s arm was torn off by the ‘aggressive’ tiger during the attack. His assistant is understood to have escaped.
The national park halted issuing visitor licenses in wake of the incident.
The man ‘told the tiger several times to go into the forest’, the Telegram post states. ‘To which he obeyed and a minute later walked into the forest with an important gait’
Primorye region Governor Oleg Kozhemyako has claimed that human encounters with Siberian tigers have increased in recent years due to conservation efforts.
He also noted that the African swine fever has nearly wiped out wild boars in the region, which are one of the tiger’s primary food sources.
Just last month, Primorye residents and soldiers fighting in Ukraine urged Putin to protect them from tiger attacks.
Kozhemyako said in January that the Siberian tiger population had reached 560 this year. MailOnline was not able to independently confirm his report.
However, National Geographic in December last year chronicled an expedition to Russia in which researchers studied the species at a wildlife sanctuary. The report stated that there are only 400 Siberian tigers left in the wild.
