In the late 20th century, the Amur tiger was nearly hunted to the brink of extinction -- at one point, there were just 30 animals lef

The True Story Of A Man-Eating Tiger's 'Vengeance'

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2021-09-06 13:30:05

In the late 20th century, the Amur tiger was nearly hunted to the brink of extinction -- at one point, there were just 30 animals left in the wild. Above, an Amur tiger sits in the snow at a wildlife rehabilitation center. John Goodrich hide caption

John Vaillant's The Tiger is part natural history, part Russian history and part thriller; it tells a gripping and gory story of what it's like to stalk -- and be stalked by -- the largest species of cat still walking the Earth.

The most bio-diverse region in all of Russia lies on a chunk of land sandwiched between China and the Pacific Ocean. There, in Russia's Far East, subarctic animals -- such as caribou and wolves -- mingle with tigers and other species of the subtropics. It was very nearly a perfect habitat for the tigers -- until humans showed up.

The tigers that populate this region are commonly referred to as Siberian tigers, but they are more accurately known as the Amur tiger. "Imagine a creature that has the agility and appetite of the cat and the mass of an industrial refrigerator," Vaillant tells NPR's Linda Wertheimer. "The Amur tiger can weigh over 500 pounds and can be more than 10 feet long nose to tail."

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