The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

(Ron) #1

appeared to be a secondary concern.
But in the Bikin valley, in 1997, this primordial understanding had
been disrupted, and the risk of attack had become paramount. This
situation was so out of phase with the norm for this region that it led
Trush’s teammate, Sasha Lazurenko, to pose the following question over
Markov’s remains: “Why,” he wondered aloud, “is the tiger so angry at
him?”



  • “Ethnic Russian” refers to the country’s Slavic majority, which
    accounts for about 80 percent of the population and tends to be
    concentrated in western, or “European,” Russia.

  • “Amba” is a Tungus word from a language family that includes the
    Manchu, the Udeghe, and the Nanai, among others. Its original meaning
    is similar to “Great.” The Manchus (as in “Manchuria”) invaded Beijing
    in 1644 and ruled China under the Qing Dynasty until 1911. In some
    cases, they used “Amba” to denote the titular rank of a leader.

  • With a few exceptions like the Inuit, and the whalers of Lamalera in
    Indonesia, fresh meat has typically been more of a supplement than a
    staple in the hominid diet.

  • Schaller later speculated that this may have been due to the lions’ prior


experience of being hunted by Masai tribesmen.^7

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