Endangered tigers remain on the prowl in Jambi, Indonesia

Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post 6 Mar 09;

Tigers have struck once again in the district of Jambi on Wednesday, with an unidentified resident being mauled to death by a wild animal.

This incident brings the total number of attacks in the border area between Jambi and South Sumatra to 10, with only one victim surviving their severe injuries.

The Jambi Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) and the Muarojambi Police said they will soon place traps to catch the tigers as the situation had gone far enough and caused too much death already.

Muarojambi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Tedjo Dwikora said his office had coordinated with Jambi BKSDA head Didy Wurdjanto to seek a way out to solve the problem and they mutually agreed to re-install traps.

Unlike last time, the traps will be placed outside the forest area because they are not allowed to place them in areas deemed natural habitats for the tigers.

The Muarojambi regency administration said it had made efforts to address this problem, but the Jambi BKSDA had rejected its proposal to hunt the tigers because it was against the law.

"The regent has taken the moves and coordinated with the local police chief, but they obstructed the law," said Muarojambi regency secretary Syaifuddin Anang.

The administration has also urged residents to stay on alert and avoid clearing forest areas because they are the natural habitat of tigers.

Head of the BKSDA team assigned to trace the tigers, Nurazman, said he had not yet figured out the tigers' movement. The team had been unable to venture any further into the forest since they evacuated the two victims previously attacked by the tigers.

"We are also restricted by our number of personnel," he said.

So far there have been no new reports of tigers actually wandering into plantation areas or villagers, but patrol teams are still conducting observations in the area.

"We have not yet received any new reports. We are urging residents to be more alert and for team members to remain on standby there," said Nurazman.

Jambi Governor Zulkifli Nurdin called for illegal logging activities in Petaling village, Sungai Gelam district to cease and vowed to continue working with police to solve the issue.

"I will speak with the Jambi police chief to stop illegal logging in the area and prevent loggers from entering the area," he said.

He said the latest case was different from those which had occurred in Kumpeh, as in Petaling the victims were illegal loggers.

"Until recently we had not encountered problems with tigers, but now they are furious because their habitats are being destroyed," said Zulkifli.

Meanwhile Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban said illegal logging had driven tigers into plantation areas and human settlements in search of food.

"We cannot blame the tigers alone. They would not leave their habitat if food was readily available there. They would also naturally be distraught if their homes were disturbed," said Kaban recently.