Local zoologists said that at least two Siberian tigers recently visited a forested area in Dongning County, in the southeastern part of China's northernmost Heilongjiang Province, killing four domestic cattle.

An official with the county forestry bureau told Xinhua Tuesday that a woman farmer of Shengli Village, Daduchuan Town, reported in the middle of last week that one of her family's cattle was bitten to death by tigers and another one was missing.

Investigations after the report show that Wang Yanfu and his father, folks of Shengli Village, found one of their cattle was half eaten and another one was missing at around 5 p.m. on May 13 when they were grazing their cattle in a forested area to the south of neighboring Liangzichuan Village.

At 5 a.m. on May 18, Wang and his father recalled they heard an unusual howl, which caused a tumult in the cowshed. The father and son said they saw an animal, which looked very much like a tiger, escaping when they rushed out of their house.

Investigators found four heaps of tiger dung in the area near the place where Wang and his father grazed their cattle, and they discovered cattle bones and hair inside the tiger dung.

Investigators also found remains of a cattle, which they said probably was left over by Siberian tigers, in a place 400 meters away from the dung heaps. On the way back, investigators chanced on the body of a six-month-old white cattle, whose back legs had been eaten up by tigers.

Siberian tigers' attacking and killing two other cattle were also reported in Sanjielazi Village in Laoheishan Town, 32 km away from Daduchuan Town, on May 5, said Li Weiyan, a worker with the Dongning County Forestry Bureau who participated in the recent surveys of the traces of Siberian tigers.

Initial analysis show that at least two Siberian tigers roamed in the area recently, Li said. Traces of Siberian tigers were spotted in the county 10 years ago.

No casualties were reported in the recent tiger attacks, the official said, adding that the local government would offer compensations to farmers who lost cattle to tigers.

Huang Junyang, an official with the provincial forestry bureau, attributed the reemergence of Siberian tigers to the improving ecological environment in the area over recent years and local government's efforts to prohibit poaching of wildlife.

Covering some 7,540 kilometers in area, Dongning County has 6.774 qu km of its mountainous land space designated for afforestation. Currently, the county's forest coverage rate has reached 79 percent.

Some forest experts noted, as the forested area in eastern Heilongjiang is close to the Sino-Russian border area, it was quite possible that Siberian tigers recently roaming in the area come from Russia.

The endangered Siberian tigers are mainly distributed in northeast region of China and Siberia area of Russia. A survey by a United Nations investigation team show that only less than 20 wild Siberian tigers live in China. The number of the endangered creatures is approximately 300 in the far east area of Russia.

Local sources said that relevant Chinese departments are preparing to set up a nature reserve for Siberian tigers in the Sino-Russian border area, for the sole purpose of creating a sound environment for wild Siberian tigers to live and reproduce.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2004)