Putin saves TV crew from tiger

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was feted by Russian media on Sunday for saving a television crew from an attack by a Siberian tiger in the wilds of the Far East.

Putin apparently saved the crew while on a trip to a national park to see how researchers monitor the tigers in the wild.

Just as Putin was arriving with a group of wildlife specialists to see a trapped Amur tiger, it escaped and ran towards a nearby camera crew, the country's main television station said. Putin quickly shot the beast and sedated it with a tranquilizer gun.

"Vladimir Putin not only managed to see the giant predatorup close but also saved our television crew too," a presenter on Rossiya television said at the start of the main evening news.

The 55-year-old former KGB spy, who cultivated a macho image during his eight years as the Kremlin chief, was shown striding through the taiga in camouflage and desert boots before grappling with the feline foe.

He helped measure the Amur tiger's incisors before placing a satellite transmitter around the neck of the beast, which can weigh up to 450 kg and measure around three meters from nose to the tip of the tail.

Fewer than 400 Amur tigers - also known as Siberian, Ussuri or Manchurian tigers - are believed to survive in the wild, most of them in Russia and some in China.

Putin thanked Western researchers for being involved in programs to save the Amur tigers. "First of all, we must thank our colleagues, American and European colleagues for being involved with this during a difficult time for Russia when no-one was paying any attention to this," Putin said.

Putin last year made it into glossy magazines across the world by donning combat trousers and baring his muscular torso for photographers while on a fishing trip in the Yenisei river.

上周日，俄罗斯总理普京在俄远东地区的野生动物保护区（视察工作时）上演了“虎口救人”的惊险一幕，他射倒一只欲伤人的西伯利亚老虎（译者注：又称“东北虎”），成功解救了一位随行的电视台工作人员。普京总统的英雄事迹受到了俄罗斯当地媒体的高度赞誉。

事发当天，普京在一个国家森林公园视察研究人员监控野生老虎的情况。

据俄罗斯电视台报道，正当普京总理在野生动物专家的陪同下视察一只被捕获的阿穆尔河虎时，这只困兽突然挣脱枷锁，向近旁的一位随行摄影记者扑去。就在这时，普京迅速拿起一杆麻醉枪将其射倒。

俄罗斯电视台的一名主持人在当天的晚间新闻节目开始时报道说：“普京总理不仅与猛虎‘亲密接触’，而且还解救了我们的工作人员。”

普京在此前的八年总统任期内一直以“硬汉”形象示人。从电视画面中可以看到，事发之前，这位55岁的前克格勃特工身着迷彩服和沙地靴，大步走进一片针叶林。

制服猛虎后，普京还帮助研究人员测量虎牙的长度，并在老虎的颈部安装了卫星定位追踪器。这只老虎身长（从鼻子至尾尖）约3米，重达450公斤。

目前全世界仅存不到400只野生阿穆尔河虎（也称西伯利亚虎、乌苏里虎或东北虎），其中大多数分布在俄罗斯境内，还有一些分布在中国。

普京对参与西伯利亚虎保护项目的西方专家表示了感谢。他说：“首先，我们要感谢来自美国和欧洲的同行们，感谢他们在这样一个西伯利亚虎保护不受重视的困难时期，给予我们支持与帮助。”

去年，普京身着迷彩裤，赤裸着上身在叶尼塞河钓鱼的照片登上世界各地很多时尚杂志，照片中普京完美的肌肉线条显露无遗。

Vocabulary:

fete: to pay honor to（给予巨大荣誉）

up close:近距离地