普京射虎救險，盡顯英雄本色

VLADIMIR Putin is being feted by Russian media for saving a television crew from an attack by a Siberian tiger in the wilds of the Far East.

普京在遠東原始森林上演“虎口救生”的驚險一幕，俄羅斯媒體正對他大加贊賞。

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

在深入國家公園了解研究人員如何監控老虎的野外生活的過程中，普京總理及時救了這些工作人員。

Just as Mr 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.

“當普京與一批野生動物專家前來觀察一只被束縛的猛虎時，這只老虎擺脫束縛，撲向不遠處的一位攝影師們，”俄羅斯電視臺報道說。

Mr Putin quickly shot the beast and sedated it with a tranquiliser gun.

普京迅速用麻醉槍射中猛虎，使之麻醉昏睡。

\"Vladimir Putin not only managed to see the giant predator up close， but also saved our television crew too，\" a presenter on Rossiya television said.

“弗拉基米爾#8226;普京不僅‘親密接觸’這只龐大的食肉動物，還救了我們電視臺工作人員，”主持人在俄羅斯電視臺上說道。

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.

現年55歲的前國家安全委員會特工普京，在作為克里姆林宮主人的八年期間刻畫了一個“硬漢”形象。在猛虎未被捕捉之前，他身著迷彩服，腳踏沙地靴，大步走進針葉林地帶。

He helped measure the Amur tiger's incisors before placing a satellite transmitter around the neck of the beast， which can weigh up to 450kg and measure about 3m from the nose to the tip of the tail.

他協助測量這只西伯利亞虎的牙齒，然后親手給它帶上裝有遙感定位系統的項圈，這只虎重量約為450千克，身長約為3米。

Mr 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.

去年，在葉尼塞河釣魚時，普京身穿戰褲，向攝影師展示肌肉發達的上身，照片上了時尚雜志，風靡全球。

The Amur tiger， the world's biggest wild cat， has recently bounced back from the brink of extinction to hit its highest population level for at least 100 years， the WWF said last year.

去年，世界野生動物基金會宣布，西伯利亞虎是世界現存最大型最兇猛的貓科動物，最近才從瀕臨滅絕的邊緣恢復到至少一百年來的最大數量。