Traces of a female Siberian tiger were recently found in the suburban area of Harbin, capital of northeast Heilongjiang Province.
The tigress is believed to have eaten five heads of cattle and hurt two others.
According to historic records, this is the first time that a Siberian tiger visited the city of Shangzhi, 200 kilometers from Harbin, since the 1980s.
Local cattle herders said that they were breeding 60 head of cattle in the forest. However, they found five head of cattle missing and two others hurt in early August.
Yu Xiaochen, a research fellow with the Heilongjiang Provincial Wild Animal Research Institute, said that judging by the footprints and other traces left by the animal, as well as the bodies of dead cattle, the animal could be an adult tigress.
Yu said the tigress might have chased after boars and roe deer and finally came to Shangzhi County.
The Siberian tiger is an endangered species in the world. They mainly live in northeast China and Siberia of Russia. China now has less than 20 Siberian tigers.
(Xinhua)
