REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BENGKULU -- A Sumatran tiger killed a farmer working in a rubber plantation at Tanjung Beringin village, North Seluma Sub-district, Seluma District, Bengkulu Province.
"The victim died of injuries after being attacked by a Sumatran tiger," Darwis Saragih of the Bengkulu Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), said here, Monday.
The rubber plantation is located at the border of Buru Semidang Bukit Kabu Park, which is a Sumatran tiger (Phantera tigris Sumatrae) habitat.
The attack occurred on Sunday (Feb. 22) and was witnessed by the victim's wife.
She was in a hut when she heard her husband's screams. She went out to approach her husband, but he was already dead. She saw the tiger.
The BKSDA has deployed a team to ensure that the tiger does not venture out of the park in a bid to prevent conflicts with humans.
Sumatran tigers, the smallest of all tigers, are a critically endangered species only found on Sumatra Island, Indonesia's second-largest island.
The exact number of tigers left in the wild is uncertain, but latest estimates range from under 300 to possibly 500 in 27 locations, including in the Kerinci Seblat National Park, the Tesso Nilo Park, and the Gunung Leuser National Park.
Sumatran tigers are on the brink of extinction as a result of deforestation, poaching, and clashes with people.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), their numbers have dwindled from about a thousand in the 1970s. The biggest threat to conservation is conflict with humans, according to the 2009 report by the forestry ministry. On an average, five to 10 Sumatran tigers have been killed every year since 1998, the report noted.
A study published in the journal Oryx recently reported that the critically endangered Sumatran tiger may be even rarer than previously thought.
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