(Warning:Graphic) WOW! Siberian Tiger from Russia visits Southwest Alaska...(from November 4, 2016)

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Togiak Refuge today released a photo of a highly unusual visitor to SW Alaska. This Siberian tiger was caught on a game camera that had been set up in an effort to document suspected illegal hunting activity on a tributary of the Togiak River.

Siberian tigers are native to eastern Russia, just across the Pacific from Alaska. They are a cold climate apex predator that has suffered from habitat lost (deforestation) across portions of their home range. While the presence of one here in western Alaska might be shocking to some, they are excellent swimmers and adept on the pack ice that would have been crossed to get here.

Game cameras are routinely used by biologists on the refuge. This particular camera had been placed on a river by law enforcement officers after several suspicious kill sites were discovered from the air. Initially poaching was suspected and the camera was set up at a likely spot on a river in an effort to document illegal activity.