Tiger Conservation Moves Again to Center Stage

A Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) has been caught in a regulated trapping in Muara Enim district, South Sumatra, and is now undergoing observation at a conservation facility in Lampung.

Wildlife biologists and veterinarians are monitoring the tiger'south behavior and health before it can be released back to the wild.

Population of the Sumatran tiger, the only remaining island living tiger, is estimated to exist less than 400 in the wild. 2 other Indonesian tiger subspecies -- Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica) and Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) -- accept been declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The critically endangered subspecies of tiger is increasingly in conflicts with human in Muara Enim as deforestation causes them to rapidly lose habitat. The local government has set up a job strength to handle conflicts betwixt man and tigers.

The task force has installed cameras and muzzle traps at several areas in the woods to take hold of the big cats alive to be relocated to the conservation area. A cage trap in Pelakat village managed to capture a tiger which was then transferred to the Sumatran Tiger Rescue Center at the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation (TWNC) in Lampung.

Sugeng Dwi Hastono, a veterinarian at the TWNC, said the convict tiger has shown unusual beliefs and loss of appetite.

"This tiger is still immature and decumbent to stress, perchance considering of the relocation from Muara Enim to Lampung," he said.

He said his team was doing their best to minimize interaction between the captive tiger and humans, including muzzle keepers and veterinarians. They provided vitamins and meats for the tiger, which is housed in a much bigger cage.

Built in 2007, the facility at the TWNC focuses on wild tigers with history of conflicts with human. The captive big cats volition be released to the wild once they are deemed good for you and able to hunt prey on their own. Until now, the facility has captured 13 Sumatran tigers and returned 7 of them to the wild.

The conservation area is located about a hamlet. Its staffs conduct routine patrols and utilize camera traps to monitor tiger activities in the expanse.

Edi Firiyanto, a security personnel at TWNC, recalled how he was in a face-to-face encounter with a tiger. He said Sumatran tigers would not attack humans unless they were provoked.

"I was attacked by a tiger in the morning, only it was my fault. I was defecating in a river alone and silently. At that fourth dimension I wore a blackness hoodie considering it was cold. I covered my whole body with the jacket so I might await like a black boar," he said.

Eddie said he survived because the tiger realized that its prey was homo.

"I had dedicated myself, merely finally the tiger knew that I was man so he left me alone."

Maintaining habitat and natural prey population are also a priority to prevent Sumatran tigers from hunting livestock or entering residential areas. According to the TWNC, there was no single case of a tiger attacking residents near the conservation area.