A Chinese farmer had a lucky escape after a rare Siberian tiger hurled itself against the gate of his home, smashing it off its hinges.
In video footage, the growling tiger is seen running along a road outside the man’s house in a village in the north-east of China.
The attack happened in Changtai village in Heilongjiang province in north-eastern China on Monday.
The farmer walks across a courtyard full of drying maize and into the street to see what is going on, but suddenly retreats as the tiger returns.
He manages to shut the metal gate but seconds later the tiger launches itself against the barrier, bursting it open.
The farmer escaped with his life but a short time before, another villager had been attacked by the tiger while feeding his cattle.
The 65-year-old man was bitten on the arm and had to be sent to hospital for surgery. The man’s son said that two tigers were on the loose, although that was not confirmed by officials.
It was a highly unusual attack by a Siberian tiger, which is the largest tiger subspecies in the world, eclipsing even the Bengal tiger.
Reclusive and rare to see
Adult males can weigh up to 900 lbs and measure 12ft long, including their 3ft-long tails.
In response to the tiger attack, authorities were dispatched to the village and told residents to stay indoors while they searched for the big cat using drones and thermal imaging cameras.
Authorities in the area issued notices encouraging locals to report sightings of tiger droppings or paw prints.
Officials said the tiger would not be killed unless it posed an immediate risk to human safety.
Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, inhabit forests and mountains in far eastern Russia and neighbouring north-eastern China.
They are known to be reclusive and avoid contact with humans, making them very rare to see.
There are fewer than 600 estimated to be left in the wild due to widespread poaching.
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