More incidents of wild tigerskilling people in Sumatra

Tiger kills fisherman
Antara 22 Mar 10;

Jambi (ANTARA News) - A Sumatran tiger (panthera tigris Sumatrae) in Jambi attacked and killed Darmilus (25), of Sponjen village, Kumpeh Ilir subdistrict, Muarojambi regency, Jambi province, in the small hours of Monday.

The victim was fishing in the outskirts of the forest, when the tiger attacked him. This was the second tiger attack this month, Sponjen village head Juhrianto said Monday.

The other villagers who saw the tiger attacking Darmilus ran away while screaming, which had scared the tiger which then disappeared into the forest leaving his dead prey.

After the tiger had gone, an hour later the villagers came back and brought the victim`s dead body to his home, and buried him at a local cemetery.(*)

Tiger Gives Man Deadly Wake-Up Call in Jambi
Fidelis E Satriastanti & AFP Jakarta Globe 23 Mar 10;

A man was killed when a Sumatran tiger dragged him from a forest hut, breaking his neck and crushing his skull before his friends could save him, a conservation official said on Monday.

The 25-year-old victim died from injuries sustained in the Sunday night attack at Berbak National Park in Jambi, the provincial conservation agency head Didi Wuryanto told Agence France-Presse.

“A Sumatran tiger went into the makeshift hut while they were asleep and dragged one of the men out,” he said. “His friends heard screaming, but when they got to him, it was too late.”

Authorities are investigating why the men camped overnight in a forest where tigers were known to roam, he added.

Human-animal conflicts are becoming a rising problem as people encroach on wildlife habitats, particularly in the rainforests of Sumatra and Kalimantan.

In a separate development, officials on Monday said that the adult female tiger and three cubs found during a recent raid of an estate in Pondok Cabe Ilir, Tangerang, were indeed critically endangered Sumatran tigers.

The Feb. 20 raid, which involved officers from the National Police and Jakarta’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), also found 20 other exotic animals, including four birds of paradise, two Timor deer, three eclectus parrots and other rare birds in a two-hectare property belonging to Henry Yukio Sujatim.

“We have already done DNA tests on the tigers and they are Sumatran tigers,” said Darori, the Ministry of Forestry’s director general for forest protection and nature conservation, adding that the animals were now being quarantined at the Gadog Animal Rescue Center in Bogor and Tegal Alur Animal Rescue Center in West Jakarta.

He said Henry faced up to five years in prison and a Rp 100 million ($11,000) fine.

But Muslim Arief Toengkagie, head of the Jakarta BKSDA, said the owner had not been taken into custody because he was cooperating with authorities.

Irma Hermawati, coordinator of the Wildlife Advocacy Institution, said the owner needed to be thoroughly investigated to help bring down the illegal animal trade.

Wild tiger kills Indonesian man
Yahoo News 23 Mar 10;

JAKARTA (AFP) - – An Indonesian man was killed when a rare Sumatran tiger dragged him from a forest hut, broke his neck and shattered his skull before his friends could save him, a conservation official said Monday.

The victim, 25, died from his injuries after the attack on Sunday night at Berbak National Park in Jambi province, Sumatra island, provincial conservation agency head Didi Wuryanto told AFP.

"A Sumatran tiger went into the makeshift hut while they were asleep and dragged one of the men out. There was a struggle but the tiger managed to break the victim's neck and bit the back of his head, leaving a hole," he said.

"His friends heard screaming but when they got to him it was too late. The tiger was gone and their friend was dead."

Authorities are investigating why the men camped overnight in a forest where tigers are known to roam, he added.

Human-animal conflicts are a rising problem as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.

There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, according to conservationists, but Wuryanto said there were up to 30 human deaths attributed to tiger attacks last year.