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1 dead in suspected tiger attack in Indonesia, hunt still ongoing

Theo

A man was found dead in western Indonesia after a suspected attack by a Sumatran tiger as authorities were still on the hunt, a local official said on Saturday, the latest case of conflict between humans and the endangered species.

There are only a few hundred tigers left in the wild on the western island of Sumatra, and their body parts are often targeted by poachers, while rampant deforestation has significantly reduced their habitat.

A team of conservationists was dispatched on Saturday to search for the big cat after the 26-year-old male victim was found dead on Thursday afternoon at a plantation in Riau province on the island of Sumatra. The wounds indicated a tiger attack.

“Our team left this morning (to search for the tiger). According to the report, the area is in tiger habitat,” Genman Suhefti Hasibuan, head of the local wildlife agency, said on Saturday.

A female Sumatran tiger in Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia. In February, at least four farmers were attacked by Sumatran tigers in two separate incidents in Aceh. Photo: Shutterstock

Local police chief Budi Setiawan said late Friday they received a report that two workers heard their friend screaming while spraying weeds at an acacia plantation.

The workers tried to look for their colleague but instead found tiger tracks on the ground. They reported the incident to the plantation management, who sent additional people to search for the victim.

The victim’s body was later found with a severed right hand and bite marks on his neck, Setiawan said.

In February, at least four farmers were attacked by Sumatran tigers in two incidents in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh.

Sumatran tigers are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is believed that fewer than 400 animals remain in the wild.

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