Villagers kill three rare tigers after fatal attacks

Source: Agencies | February 25, 2009, Wednesday |

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VILLAGERS in western Indonesia speared to death three Sumatran tigers this month after the critically endangered cats strayed from protected forests to attack livestock and killed six people in a neighboring province, a conservationist said yesterday.

The tigers were killed in Riau, a province on Sumatra island, said Samsidar, a spokesman for the WWF.

Residents in the Indragiri Hilir district caught and speared the first tiger on February 10 and the other two six days later, he said, adding that wildlife officials suspect the skins of the dead cats may have been sold to poachers.

"We haven't been able to find their carcasses," he said.

Sumatran tigers in Jambi province mauled to death six people in the last month, prompting conservationists to launch an operation to capture and relocate the animals.

There are only around 250 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, compared to about 1,000 in the 1970s. As a result, their subspecies, Panthera tigris sumatrae, could become the first large predator to become extinct in the 21st century.

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Villagers kill three rare tigers after fatal attacks

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