Banda Aceh – Two Sumatran tigers (Pantera Tigris Sumatrae) were found dead in a wire trap in the woods of Sri Mulya Village, Peunaron Subdistrict, according to East Aceh police.
According to East Aceh Police Chief Adjunct Sen.Coms.Mahmun Hari Sandy Sinurat, a joint team of personnel from the East Aceh police and the 01/Pnr Peunaron Sub-district Military Command was deployed to the wood on Sunday.
They discovered an adult female tiger and a male tiger that had become entangled in a wire trap placed by local hunters to catch wild boars, he said.
He stated that while the police and East Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) identification team members finished their work, the security officers sent to the village’s wood were aided by their colleagues from the Leuser Conservation Forum in securing the area.
To avoid a repeat of this tragedy for the endangered Sumatran tigers, Sinurat asks local communities to refrain from setting up wire traps for any purpose, as they may kill protected species.
Those who break Indonesia’s natural resources conservation law face sanctions, he said, adding that the punishment ranges from one to five years in prison as well as a fine of between Rp50 million and Rp100 million for those found guilty.
Cases of Sumatran tigers becoming entangled in wire traps have been reported in many locations across the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Three Sumatran tigers, endemic to the island of Sumatra, were discovered dead on August 26, 2021, at Ie Buboh Village, Meukek Sub-district, South Aceh District, Aceh Province.
The Sumatran tigers, which included two 10-month cubs, were discovered dead after being captured in wild boar traps set inside a conservation area by a poacher.
Sumatran tigers are the smallest of all tigers and can only be found on Sumatra Island, Indonesia’s second-largest island.
Because of their diminishing habitats, tigers are on the verge of extinction due to deforestation, poaching, and confrontations between wild animals and local humans.
The actual number of Sumatran tigers left in the wild is unknown, but recent estimates range from around 300 to maybe 500 at 27 sites, including Kerinci Seblat National Park, Tesso Nilo Park, and Gunung Leuser National Park.
Their numbers have declined, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), from around a thousand in the 1970s.
According to a 2009 analysis by the forestry ministry, human conflict is the greatest threat to conservation. Since 1998, five to ten Sumatran tigers have been murdered on average, according to the report.