New'Life of Pi' moment for terrified Chinese fisherman as tiger tries to climb on boat
Heilongjiang man repeatedly prods wild Siberian tiger off his fishing boat in the middle of the Ussuri River
A fisherman had his own Life of Pi moment when a wild Siberian tiger tried to get on his boat on the Ussuri River in Heilongjiang province last week.
Zhang Mingyu, from the province’s Fuyuan county, said he spotted a creature swimming in the river as he was sending supplies to the Sanjiang National Nature Reserve with another fisherman last Wednesday morning, Xinhua reported.
“At first I thought it was just a red deer or a roe deer. But it turned out to be a Siberian tiger,” Zhang, 32, said. “When we approached, the tiger suddenly turned its head and let out a loud roar, with its front paws clutching at our boat. I was so scared that I rushed from the bow to the stern.”
To avoid harming the tiger, Zhang used a rod to gently prod the tiger back into the water. But the animal swam over to the other side of the boat and tried to climb on again.
After several rounds of trying to clamber on to the vessel with Zhang repeatedly pushing it off, the tiger eventually gave up and swam towards the riverbank instead.
The fisherman later recorded a 10-minute video on his mobile phone of the tiger swimming in the river and going ashore. It left clear footprints in the sand on the riverbank.