Tigers Allegedly Entering Residents' Palm Oil Plantations In Riau, BBKSDA Installs Trap Cameras

BBKSDA together with a joint team conducted a search of tiger tracks in Kampung Temui, Siak, Riau. (ANTARA/HO-BB KSDA Riau)

RIAU - Riau Conservation and Natural Resources Center (BBKSDA) installed a camera trap following reports of suspected Sumatran tiger roaming the oil palm plantation of Temusai Village, Bungaraya District, Siak Regency.

The installation was carried out after the search was carried out by a joint team from BBKSDA, local officials, village governments and witnesses who claimed to have seen tigers.

During a search this afternoon, the team found three tracks of 7 centimeter tiger-like wild animals with a distance of approximately 100 meters between one point to another.

"From these traces, we have installed a camera trap to ascertain whether this is indeed the tiger's footprint, here it might be the track," said Head of the Siak BBKSDA Riau Resort, Rafles Sitinjak in Riau, July 11, confiscated by Antara.

The trap camera, he continued, was installed at a point leading to the path of the wild animal's trajectory.

In the next three days, the BBKSDA team will check the video footage from the camera that has been installed.

"If we find it, the team tiger will lower the trap cage to evacuate it. But at this time we have not installed a trap cage," he said.

According to Rafles, judging from the size of the traces found by the patrol team, the wild animal is still a teenager. The reason is that the sole size of the adult Sumatran tiger can reach 9-10 cm.

"Well, this is what we need to make sure first whether this is really the Sumatran tiger or maybe the branches tiger (jaguar). That's the reason we haven't installed a trap cage because we have to make sure this wild animal is our target," explained Rafles.

Previously, Nasrun (46), admitted that he met a Sumatran tiger when he was about to enter an oil palm plantation in Temusai Village where he worked.

The incident occurred on Saturday, July 8, when Nasrun departed on a motorbike from his house as usual to harvest Sugeng's palm oil. In the middle of the road Nasrun saw something that appeared to be a cross section in the middle of the road.

With curiosity Nasrun kept going and suddenly he stopped suddenly, it turned out that what was in front of him was a tiger lying in the middle of the road with a size of a teenage cow. Luckily at that time the tiger's position was waiting for Nasrun.

Not thinking long, Nasrun trembled turning his motorbike and drove out of the garden where he worked. "For God's sake I was so scared. Luckily the tiger didn't see me, which was only about two rows of palm trunks away," said Nasrun, Monday, July 11.