In this book, a sick tiger had taken to eating humans - one human in particular had hunted the tiger relentlessly to sell his body parts to China.
A governmental organization in Russia that was put in place to preserve the natural lands where the tigers hunted (called Inspection Tiger) was put to the task of hunting down this errant tiger and killing him before he killed any more humans.
This story centers around one Inspection Tiger task member, Trush, and his work in saving the forest areas where the tigers live in Siberia, Russia. Trush was the one who eventually led the group of Inspection Tiger team members as well as a few townspeople on the hunt for the tiger in question.
This book details Trush's life as well as Markov's life - Markov being the one who was hunted and eventually was killed by the tiger. It also talks a lot about how our ancestors hunted tigers and other big game in the Pliocene era as well as some anthropological and sociological musings.
I loved this book because it took the matter of tiger hunting very seriously and is a major proponent for not killing tigers while at the same recognizing that once the tiger ate humans, it had to be killed. It is a very passionate and compassionate look at tigers and how humans interact with them. After reading this book, I even made a donation to Wildlife Conservation Society's Siberian Tiger Project (which is talked about in the book).
Rating: 8 / 10
ISBN: 9780307397140
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Edition: 1st Edition