"The tiger is just trying to be a tiger," Vaillant says. Vaillant's retelling is a life-and-death, moment-by-moment chase - and at times, it can be hard to remember whether you're rooting for the tiger or the humans. Vaillant cites a famous tiger biologist who, when asked how high a tiger can jump, responded: "As high as it needs to."Ĭossacks pose with a tiger they hunted in Russia's Far East, circa 1885. These majestic tigers can jump as far as 25 feet - vertically, they can jump over a basketball hoop.
"The Amur tiger can weigh over 500 pounds and can be more than 10 feet long nose to tail." "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 tigers that populate this region are commonly referred to as Siberian tigers, but they are more accurately known as the Amur tiger. It was very nearly a perfect habitat for the tigers - until humans showed up. There, in Russia's Far East, subarctic animals - such as caribou and wolves - mingle with tigers and other species of the subtropics. The most bio-diverse region in all of Russia lies on a chunk of land sandwiched between China and the Pacific Ocean.
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 Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival
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