The bizarre surveillance camera footage shows a rare Siberian tiger suspected of killing a critically endangered Amur leopard strolling down a road near a mining area.
The endangered animal, also known as the Amur tiger, can be seen wandering at the entrance of a gold and copper mine near the city of Hunchun, in China’s Jilin Province, in the early morning of 4th January.
Locals claimed that the animal had appeared near the mining area several times during the winter.
It reportedly killed a dog the same morning it was spotted in the mining area, as suggested by the blood stains on its front paws.
Meanwhile, in a rare incident in December, a wild Siberian tiger attacked and killed a leopard in the national park. Both animals are first-class protected wild animals due to their extremely low populations.
However, officials from China’s Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park explained that due to the bad quality of the video. They were not able to determine whether it was the same animal.
A former worker at the mine, identified only as Mr Hu, said: “I sent these surveillance videos to a friend who works in animal protection.
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“She believed that the tiger that appeared late at night on 6th November, and in the early morning of 4th January was probably the same one.”
Hu added that many residents and even some of his ex-colleagues have spotted Siberian tigers around the mine.
One of them, reportedly a restaurant owner, said: “It happened in October and November last year, and it happened again this time.”
She added: “Our area is a protected area, and we can often see Siberian tigers.”
“Everyone drives or rides a motorcycle from their living area to the mine during the day. Which is fine, and there are also many customers coming to the store to buy things.
“But at night, no one dares to move around much.”