Primorye Police Foiled Attempt to Sell Bones of Siberian Tiger

VLADIVOSTOK. July 30. VOSTOK-MEDIA – Primorye law-enforcement officers have foiled an attempt of Ussuriisk resident to sell bones of Siberian tiger.

The seized man was charged with poaching highly endangered animal, listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The success of the police operation was made possible due to the concerted actions of Ussuriisk police officers, Primorsky Krai Wildlife and Hunting Management Department as well as Amur branch of WWF-Russia.

“As a result of the poaching attempt a grown female tiger was killed at the Southeast of Primorye, where there are only few tigers left. The suspect confessed that he had planned to sell the coat and bones of the killed animal to raise some money,” said Elena Starostina, a spokeswoman for Amur branch of WWF-Russia.

The operation presents a rare example when it was possible to gather decisive evidence, sufficient for meting out proper punishment to the guilty person.

“I was invited to conduct the expert examination,” says Pavel Fomenko, WWF biodiversity conservation program coordinator. “Engaging experts from WWF is a long-standing practice since high-quality expert examination is a prerequisite for understanding circumstances of a case. Sure enough, the tiger was shot. The bones of the deceased animal were specially prepared for sale.”