SP/Arnold Sianturi Jakarta Globe 4 Jul 13;
Mandailing Natal. Tigers roaming near a village in North Sumatra’s Mandailing Natal have killed two people and maimed another person in recent months, spreading fear among the local population, an environmental activist said.
“There have already been three victims in the past few months,” Rasyid Assaf Dongaran, the executive director of the Sumatra Rainforest Institute, said late on Wednesday evening.
All three victims were from Ranto Panjang village in the Muara Batang Gadis subdistrict of Mandailing Natal.
Karman Lubis, 31, was found dead in a rubber plantation in Rantau Panjang on March 11,
Torkis Lubis, 21, was found on the fringe of the forest on June 22,
Dayah, 31, the most recent victim of a tiger attack, had managed to escape, Rasyid said.
“He was on the banks of the Naijon river in Ranto Panjang village — the river is where villagers collect water and do washing,” he said. “It was there that the tiger attacked Dayah, but this latest victim managed to flee,” Rasyid said.
Tiger sightings are becoming more common as deforestation diminishes tigers’ food sources, forcing the predators to encroach on villages to look for food.
“We are currently trying to collect more information from people who have seen the tigers. We want the tigers to be captured as soon as possible, but we also do not know how many there are,” he said.
Ridwan Sanusi, 45, a Rantau Panjang villagers said that local residents believed there were at least two on the loose.
“These tigers are roaming outside of the forest because the forest is now damaged and the animals have to look for food in human settlement areas,” Ridwan said. “People here often see these animals.”
