A Russian logger is thought to have died after being mauled by a tiger in a remote forest when he left his accommodation to visit the toilet during the night.
Mikhail Shabaldin, 41, is believed to have been “attacked and wounded” by the wild beast after the ambush by an Amur - or Siberian - tiger, the world’s largest big cat.
Locals say Shabaldin is likely to have then been dragged away into the forest.
Video taken by the victim’s shocked colleagues from a rough track near where he was staying appears to show several scattered items of clothing, as well as bits of what look to be human innards.
Tiger footprints were visible at the site, which had prompted workmates to say it was a tiger rather than a brown bear that took Shabaldin on.
Shabaldin is believed to have been attacked as he left his temporary accommodation near a logging site in Khabarovsk region, to go to the toilet at night.
Loo paper was also strewn around the site.
While a search for the missing man was underway, locals admitted there was little prospect of finding the logger alive, with one theory being that a hungry or wounded Amur tigress attacked the man to feed her cubs.
A full investigation into the logger’s disappearance was now underway.
Shabaldin was on a 15-day logging shift when he was attacked.
His wife Elena has been informed of the horrific incident.
A friend of the logger said: “He was killed by a tiger, this is a fact. His body has not been found yet.”
Despite many loggers being wary of meeting predators, most did not carry guns for protection.
The friend said that tigers were a “frequent” sight in the area, with most loggers being aware of the risk.
Sergey Aramilev, general director of the Amur Tiger Centre, said it was too early to say exactly what happened to the missing person.
“A group has left for the scene and is investigating the circumstances of the incident,” he said.
“Usually, tigers try to bypass human habitats. Although the predator is the king of the taiga, it is afraid of 'two-legged animals’.
However, Aramilev said hunger, provocation, or a weakened state through injury or illness might prompt a beast to attack a human.
A big cat that had attacked a human was usually removed from the wild, he said, before the experts would make a further decision regarding the fate of the animal.
The Amur tiger species, which lives in eastern Russia, China and North Korea, is recovering in the wild after almost becoming extinct in the late Soviet era due to poaching.
Less than 700 live in the wild, though numbers are now recovering with both Russia and China taking action to stop poaching.
The presumed attack on the logger was some 50 miles from Mayak village in remote Khabarovsk region, where tigers were known to reside.
