Sumatran tiger kills Indonesian man

A Sumatran tiger at Italy's Bioparco zoo. There have been two deadly attacks in Indonesia this year.
A Sumatran tiger at Italy's Bioparco zoo. There have been two deadly attacks in Indonesia this year. PHOTO: REUTERS

JAKARTA • An Indonesian man has been mauled to death by a Sumatran tiger in a remote village, the authorities said yesterday - the second deadly attack this year.

Mr Yusri Effendi, 34, was found with fatal wounds to his neck by workmates and local villagers in Riau province on Sumatra island on Saturday evening, the local conservation agency said.

The victim was working on a building to lure the edible-nest swiftlet in Tanjung Simpang village when the tiger began lurking around the construction site.

Several hours after first seeing the big cat, Mr Effendi and his three workmates - thinking the coast was clear - made a dash for safety, only to come face-to-face with the wild animal a short distance away.

Mr Effendi's colleagues, who all survived the incident, told the authorities they scattered to evade the animal, but the victim was not so lucky. A search party found him unconscious at the edge of a river, the authorities said.

Human-animal conflicts are common across the vast Indonesian archipelago, especially in areas where the clearing of rainforest to make way for oil palm plantations is destroying animals' habitats.

  • 400-500 Number of Sumatran tigers, considered critically endangered by protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature, that remain in the wild.

Earlier this month, locals from Hatupangan village in North Sumatra disembowelled a Sumatran tiger and then hung it from a ceiling after it attacked a pair of villagers.

Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered by protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with 400 to 500 remaining in the wild.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 12, 2018, with the headline Sumatran tiger kills Indonesian man. Subscribe