Beijing: A Chinese fisherman has experienced a "Life of Pi" moment, when he encountered a wild Siberian tiger at the Sino-Russian border region in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Zhang Mingyu, from Fuyuan County, saw something swimming in the Wusuli River on the morning on June 11, when he was making a delivery to the Sanjiang Nature Reserve.
"At first, I thought it was a deer, then it suddenly turned round, roared at me and tried to grab the side of my boat," the 32-year-old said.
"Black and yellow stripes on its head were very clear. It was a tiger!" Zhang struggled to fend off the tiger and stop it climbing aboard, but also tried to avoid harming it, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
"It tried on the other side, and I pushed it back again," he said.
Zhang recorded a 10-minute video on his mobile of the tiger swimming in the river until it went ashore, leaving clear footprints in the sand.
According to Sanjiang Nature Reserve's press officer Wu Zhifu, the video was sent to the Feline Research Centre of the State Forestry Administration.
The video and footprints indicated a healthy wild Siberian tiger.
Fewer than 500 remain in the wild. China puts its own number of wild Siberian tigers at between 18 and 22.
Zhang Mingyu, from Fuyuan County, saw something swimming in the Wusuli River on the morning on June 11, when he was making a delivery to the Sanjiang Nature Reserve.
"At first, I thought it was a deer, then it suddenly turned round, roared at me and tried to grab the side of my boat," the 32-year-old said.
"Black and yellow stripes on its head were very clear. It was a tiger!" Zhang struggled to fend off the tiger and stop it climbing aboard, but also tried to avoid harming it, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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"It tried on the other side, and I pushed it back again," he said.
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Zhang recorded a 10-minute video on his mobile of the tiger swimming in the river until it went ashore, leaving clear footprints in the sand.
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According to Sanjiang Nature Reserve's press officer Wu Zhifu, the video was sent to the Feline Research Centre of the State Forestry Administration.
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The video and footprints indicated a healthy wild Siberian tiger.
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Fewer than 500 remain in the wild. China puts its own number of wild Siberian tigers at between 18 and 22.
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