The Amur tiger almost fell under the wheels of a car in the Primorsky Krai. A video from the registrar of the car appeared on the Internet, which recorded how the striped predator was on the roadway and at the last moment avoided a collision.
According to published information in the media, the incident happened in the area of the Filippovka village of the Khasansky district on the Razdolnoye-Khasan highway in October this year. As follows from the video, the Amur tiger jumped onto the road from the side of the railing, then quickly returned to its original place, then disappeared into the forest. The site also reported that the motorist suggested that the tiger was trying to attack the car. According to the director of the Primorsky branch of the Amur Tiger Center Sergey Aramilev, this guess is erroneous.
“In fact, a happy coincidence happened when neither the tiger nor the car were injured. Tigers, like other animals, often cross roads, and naturally, for them, this is a stressful situation. Each animal has its own way of overcoming such obstacles: someone runs swiftly, not paying attention to the traffic flow, while someone hides and waits for a convenient moment to overcome the obstacle by jumping. So in this case, the tiger chose the second method, but, once on the road, he suddenly saw dangerously close proximity of passing cars, which made him confused and quickly returned. Apparently, he eventually crossed the road, but just did not do it right away. By and large, the behavior of a tiger in such situations does not differ from the behavior of a domestic cat: often some cats in front of the car, having almost crossed the road, turn around and run back, which sometimes ends in death,” Sergey comments.
Recall that on October 24, a Amur leopard died in a collision with a car on the same road Razdolnoye - Khasan in Primorye. Employees of the Land of the Leopard National Park subsequently found that the male was called Meamur. This name gave him Ilya Lagutenko.
According to the Amur Tiger Center, traffic accidents involving Amur tigers occur regularly. In recent years, at least six similar incidents have been known in which striped predators died in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krai. So, in 2007, a young tigress died under the wheels of a regular bus on the Spassk-Dalniy - Varfolomeevka highway in the Spassky district of Primorye. Tiger suddenly went on the road in front of the bus. The driver tried to brake, but collision could not be avoided. In 2008, in the Khabarovsk Territory, a tiger hit a tourist bus near Bikin. The predator was seriously injured and the specialists had to put him to sleep. In 2009, again the incident on the highway in Khasansky district, which thundered all over the country. Then the tigress died after a collision, presumably with a heavy truck, and the perpetrators were never found. In addition, cases of meeting motorists with tigers are regularly recorded, which end up on the roadway, but collisions can be avoided.
The tragic incidents once again remind that the migration routes of animals should be taken into account even at the stage of developing regional development plans, which provide for the construction of transport infrastructure, and provide for special transitions for animals. Only in this case can we ensure the safety of people and animals. One example of the organization of a safe passage for animals is the construction of the Narvinsky Automobile Tunnel, which should be completed before the end of this year.
In addition, as the governor of the Primorsky Krai, Vladimir Miklushevsky, told local media on the eve, warning signs will be installed along the road where the motorist knocked down a Amur leopard.
“We will do the notices without fail,” said the head of the region, Vladimir Miklushevsky. “It will probably be difficult to completely prevent such incidents. But drivers also need to be more attentive because we are dealing with wild beasts that are not always as attentive on the road as people are. "
The Amur Tiger Center encourages motorists traveling on country roads in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krai to be attentive and ready for the unexpected appearance of wild animals on the roadway.
“Not only tigers can appear under the wheels of the car, but also ungulates. People can also suffer in such an accident. Motorists should take this fact into account,” said Sergey Aramilev, director of the Amur Tiger Primorsky branch.
Photo: Vitaly Ankov/ RIA Novosti