Tragic moment a rare Amur tiger cub is fatally hit by a bus in Russian Far East

The tiger dashed across the highway near Gogolevka village in Primorsky region, leaving the bus driver no chance to avoid it. 

Video caught both the moment the endangered cub was hit, but also how wounded and dazed it struggled into the forest after the accident.

The driver reported the incident and a hunting patrol later found the tiger’s corpse. The cat had died from its injuries. 

The animal was found to be a cub aged just four or five months old.

Sergey Aramilev, head of the Amur Tiger Centre dedicated to saving the threatened species, commented: ‘This is a truly tragic death of a tiger cub, and in this story there are a number of questions that are not yet answered. 

‘The main one is why the tiger cub was alone on the road, without its mother, which at this age should always be there. 

‘Experts of hunting supervision are now  trying to get an answer to this and other questions.’

The beast was too young to survive in the wild on its own which raises a fear that its mother became wounded  - or was killed by poachers. 

There is also concern for any siblings.

He accepted the bus driver had ‘no chance’ to save the tiger. 

Wildlife experts rushed to the scene but the tiger had been fatally injured by the blow.

‘The injuries sustained by the animal turned out to be incompatible with life. There is no one to blame in this situation,' he said.

’It is truly a tragic set of circumstances: an accident occurred in the dark, this section of the road is not lit, and the cub jumped out in front of the bus at the most inopportune moment.  

‘The driver did not have any chance to avoid the collision…the driver acted correctly, he avoided injuring passengers and almost saved the animal.’

But experts dedicated to saving the rare species are determined to find out the fate of this cub’s mother and any siblings.

‘It is very important to understand what happened to the tigress,’ he said. 

‘In the best case, she is healthy and alive, and in the worst, some disaster happened to her, and the tiger cub, left alone, went on his last trip. 

‘In this situation, he may have brothers and sisters, and perhaps they need help. 

‘Therefore, hunting supervision experts and our organisation continue to work at the scene and in the vicinity.’

There are less than 600 Siberian - or Amur - tigers living in the wild in their native habitat in eastern Russia.

The species was hunted close to extinction by poachers but is now gradually making a comeback.