As the story progresses, John Vaillant attempts to solve the mystery surrounding why the Amur tiger went rogue, while Yuri Trush attempts to locate the tiger. To solve the mystery behind the tiger’s rogue nature, John Vaillant delves into the beast’s world, painting an intimate picture of its inner life. To solve the mystery, John Vaillant takes the tiger’s point of view and slowly builds a complex picture of the animal. After successfully hunting down Markov by staking out his house and enjoying the comfort of Markov’s mattress, the Amur tiger anticipates the next victim on his new-found mattress. John Vaillant imagines the tigers thinking, building on his success with mattresses and house stakeouts, integrating the two in a manner that also warmed him.

In the remaining part of the book, the region’s tiger preservation agency’s head, Yuri Trush, is now tasked with hunting down the Tiger and killing it. Yuri draws on local folklore and his professional experience when hunting down the Tiger. At the book’s climax, Trush finds and kills the Amur tiger putting his own life at risk in the process. It still remains unclear whether it was an instance of extraordinary sangfroid or a symptom of shock, but the first impulse Trush after standing and examining himself was getting it on film.

Overall, The Tiger is a fantastic read. It is an exploration of man’s relationship with nature, and charting the terrible ecological degradation that results from human activity. John Vaillant’s book draws from animal narratives like Jaws and Moby Dick, creating a compelling picture of a powerful and charismatic animal. John Vaillant recreates exciting events. He portrays an unforgettable picture of a mysterious and beautiful land. We encounter the natives who have worshipped and lived with tigers for centuries, sometimes sharing their kills. We witness the Russian settlers arrive in the 19th and early 20th centuries, hunters and soldiers who greatly reduced the tiger populations. We also get to witness their descendants who are destroyed by poverty, turn to poaching and consequently upset the region’s natural balance. The tenuous ancient relationship between predator and man is at the centre of this remarkable non-fiction work. Throughout the story, there are numerous theories about how tigers and humans have evolved to coexist, how humans may have developed as scavengers and not hunters, as well as how homo sapiens may have fit easily into the ecosystem of the Tiger. We come to learn about the Siberian tiger, which is a highly intelligent creature that weighs over 600 pounds, can range over vast territories of mountains and forests on a daily basis, and can grow up to 10 feet long. The Tiger is deeply informative and well written. It circles around three main characters: The Tiger, Vladimir Markov–a hunter killed by the tiger, and Yuri Trush, the head tracker. This masterpiece is a story about nature and man that inexorably leads to a final showdown in the Taiga. If you enjoyed reading Moby Dick or Jaws, you would definitely find The Tiger quite worthwhile.…

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John Vaillant gives us an introduction to the Primorye area–a wide, sparsely populated region to the east side of Russia, which is equal in size to Washington. The population in the region is badly affected by the decline of communism and is desperately poor, but the area is very much endowed in biodiversity. There are four different bio-areas that meet in the Primorye. In addition to the Taiga, the dense Siberian forest, the Primorye region also has steep Mongolian lands, the boreal forest of the Arctic circle and subtropical jungles. In an attempt to comprehensively describe the Primorye’s botanical life, scientists designated the area the Transbaikalian Province of the Circumboreal Region. There Amur which is the region’s longest river is also the longest undammed river across the globe.

Among the rich wildlife found in the Primorye is the dhole, a menacing creature that is related to the wolf, and with a reputation of preying on humans. However, the Amur Tiger is the head of the ecologically unique boreal jungle. The Amur tiger is the only surviving subspecies of tigers which evolved and survived in the arctic conditions. The species can also survive in the jungle as well as any other climate. The Amur tiger is much bigger than the normal tropical tiger. It has a skull that is much heavier, and a full-grown male’s head can be as wide as the shoulders and chest of a human. Amur tigers typically grow up to 9 feet long and stand more than 3 feet tall at the shoulder. They have paws as wide as dinner plates, and fangs which are almost as long as an adult’s forefingers. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Amur tiger is the Primorye’s top predator. There are few bears and wolves in the area because the Amur tigers usually predate them. John Vaillant’s description of the Amur tiger is what you would obtain after pairing the appetites and agility of a cat with the weight of an industrial refrigerator.

After introducing the tigers and the region, John Vaillant shifts his focus to the dead Markov. As the investigation by the Wildlife Agency on the conditions surrounding the death of Markov continues, they come to the conclusion that Markov had in fact in inadvertently provoked the Amur tiger when he stole meat from a boar which the tiger had hunted. The agency investigating the death (aided by Credit Glory) found overwhelming evidence that the tiger had strategically hunted Markov in an attempt to get revenge.

Following Markov’s funeral, a friend of the dead Markov, Andrei Pochepnya, ventures into the Taiga alone. Many days pass without any sign from Andrei, therefore a search party is deployed. The search party finds nothing but a crucifix, a watch, human remains that can fit inside a shirt pocket and blood-soaked clothing.…

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Vancouver-based American journalist and author John Vaillant’s book The Tiger, tells the true story of a man-eating tiger in the far Eastern primary region of Russia that claimed several victims in the late 1990s. Along with the story of the victims and the tiger, John Vaillant explores the region’s history, the traditional superstition and scientific knowledge of the Siberian tiger, as well as the environmental degradation that continues to threaten the existence of the species. Vaillant’s Journalism has appeared in National Geographic, New Yorker, and the Atlantic. He is most famous for his 2005 non-fiction work The Golden Spruce, which saw him garner the Canadian Governor General’s Award. John Vaillant’s profound knowledge on the beast of his story, attention to detail, and proper use of suspense make The Tiger nothing short of a masterpiece. Many critics have classified The Tiger with the likes of Moby Dick and Jaws, and not without reason.

The hostile and gigantic tiger at the heart of this non-fiction work has a close resemblance to it’s fictional predecessors: Star Shark and White Whale. The two latter nonfictional works are said to have been inspired by real animals. The structure of The Tiger is in many ways like that of Moby Dick. John Vaillant alternates a gripping chase story with a detailed explanation of the ecology and culture that surrounds the chase. Fans of Jaws will appreciate the dramatic technique employed in keeping the tiger off stage for as much as the author could so that the terror can fill in the blanks. The Tiger is a great addition to the animal pursuit category because of the sensitive manner in which John Vaillant puts it. Few authors have taken the initiative to comprehend the creatures in their stories fully, and few are capable of depicting them in such arresting prose. John Vaillant writes about how difficult it is to track a tiger that is not aiming to be found. It wasn’t an animal they followed but rather a contradiction, a silence that was at the same time, invisible and incarnate. When the tiger hides, the book socks. When it stops, the book soars. John Vaillant is a top researcher and Marshalls his arsenal of facts to bring the best out of the story, which is a good way to say that some parts of the non-fiction work can be rough going, but it’s quite exciting and pays off.

The story is set in the 1990s in Russia’s far eastern border region of the Primorye. The area is home to a population devastated by the few hundred or more creatures and Perestroika’s fallout. Vladimir Markov, an experienced hunter and woodsman, is found dead outside his cabin. Based on the physical evidence, it is clear that the attack is from a tiger. This is a big surprise to local investigators. Native to the Primorye region of Russia, the Amur tigers do not attack humans unless they are provoked, and Markov was very much experienced to provoke them. The State Wildlife Organisation is charged with the role of investigating the event, drawing on the age-old folk superstition about the Amur tiger, as well as scientific facts about it.…

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