TWO TIGERS MAKING LIFE DIFFICULT FOR VILLAGE RESIDENTS

Indragiri Hulu, Riau Province, April 16 (ANTARA) - Two tigers have been roaming around Pulau Kembang village in Indragiri Hulu District, Riau, freely over the past two weeks, causing the local people to live in constant fear.

The villagers were gripped by fear especially after the beasts had killed and eaten some of their cattle.

"We have reported the tiger attacks to the Batang Cinaku police and Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA)," Sudaryono, a resident of Pulau Kembang village, Batang Cinaku sub district, said here on Thursday.

Almost every night, the tigers killed a goat at the village, but local people could not do anything to protect their cattle as they were scared, he said.

The villagers who also earn a living from rubber resin tapping, were now afraid to go out into the woods in the morning or evening because of the tigers, he said.

Meanwhile, Al Hamra, an environmental activist, said the two tigers were likely from the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park (TNBT) which shared border with the isolated village.

"According to our 2006 data, there are 80 Sumatran tigers living in the TNBT area. The tigers which entered the village most probably come from the national park that shares border with the village," Al Hamra of the Riau WWF said.

Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) are on the brink of extinction on Sumatra Island, and its population is only around 400 heads.

In human-tigers conflicts since January 2009 on Sumatra Island, at least ten people were reported of having been attacked, and eight of them were killed. Four tigers were also reportedly killed in the conflicts on the island.
The Sumatran tiger is critically endangered according to the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), and is the last surviving subspecies of tiger in Indonesia.

Primary threats to the Sumatran tiger include habitat loss, poaching for the illegal trade in skins and traditional medicines, decline in prey species due to hunting, and often fatal conflict with humans.