Man sentenced for killing and dismembering Amur tiger

A resident of Pozharsky District in Primorye (Primorsky Krai) received a suspended sentence of 1 year and 6 months for killing a Red Book Amur tiger, as well as a fine of 2.7 million rubles ($28,400 at current rates). He tried to challenge the decision, but the court left the verdict unchanged, reported the publication Zolotoy Most.

It is known that the man went hunting in the dark and, seeing glowing eyes, fired his weapon. His victim turned out to be a tiger, and to cover up the killing of the rare predator, the resident of Primorye covered the carcass with snow, and the next morning dismembered it, placed it in bags, and threw it away.

The man was later detained. He was charged with illegal extraction and trafficking of particularly valuable wild animals (Article 258.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). His car was also confiscated and his weapon was seized.

The resident of Primorye claimed he did not intend to kill the tiger. He said he was sure he was shooting at another animal, but he was not believed — at the time of the killing, the hunting season for ungulates had already ended, and according to law enforcement, there was no other animal to shoot in the forest.

The man then went to the Primorsky Krai Regional Court and asked to be acquitted or have his sentence reduced, but was refused — not even the fact that he has three children helped.

On 18 June, we reported that the court granted a claim by the prosecutor of Krasnoarmeysky District in Primorsky Krai to recover 2 million rubles ($21,100 at current rates) from a forestry enterprise in favor of the widow of a deceased employee — in the spring of 2025, he was killed and eaten by a tiger. This was reported on 18 June by the press service of the regional prosecutor«s office.