Snared tiger defies poachers on three legs

A tiger in the jungles of Indonesia has defied the odds and managed to survive, despite losing one of its front feet in a snare laid by poachers.

The Sumatran tiger is thought to have chewed off its foot or pulled its leg free from the wire, leaving the foot behind.

In normal circumstances the beast would have been expected to die from blood loss or an infection, or simply to starve to death because of a severely reduced capacity to hunt.

However, to the astonishment of conservationists, the tiger appears to have recovered from the loss and is managing to catch enough food to keep it healthy. “His condition seemed quite stable,” Sunarto, a WWF biologist in Sumatra, said. “He has been surviving – I don’t know how. It’s very surprising he’s still alive.”

Pictures of the tiger were taken by a WWF camera trap in the Sumatran jungle and show the male animal to be in a healthy condition, apart from the missing paw.

Source: Times