Residents Of Sungai Taleh Agam, West Sumatra, Are Restless Because Bears Enter Settlements

AGAM - Residents of Sungai Taleh, Nagari Baringin, Palembayan District, Agam Regency, West Sumatra, are restless because a sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) has entered the settlement. Bears have been disturbing the community since the last three months.

One of the residents of Sungai Taleh, Jon Arius (45) in Lubukbasung, Tuesday, said large sun bears often appear when children go to school.

"Even the sun bear made a sound when he met him and the students immediately ran," he said, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 2.

He said the sun bear had entered the residents' settlement three months ago. Sun bears also damage local people's crops and are behind people's houses.

"I've been here for 25 years, and the bears have never bothered me and entered the settlements," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Agam Natural Resources Conservation Agency (KSDA), Ade Putra, added that his party visited the location on Monday, November 1, after receiving information from the local nagari guardian.

"We found the footprints and claws of a sun bear at a location not far from a resident's house," he said.

The Agam KSDA resort set up a trap enclosure for the evacuation of the protected animals on Tuesday, November 2.

This is the last step because the location of the bear's appearance is in a residential area, the forest area is quite far away and animals often appear.

"It is impossible for us to carry out evictions, because they are close to settlements. The trap cages are installed for the next few days and we monitor the cages every day," he said.

If they enter a trap cage, the animal will be identified and observed at the Agam KSDA Resort office.

After that, the animals protected by Law Number 5 of 1990 concerning Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and their Ecosystems were released into their wild habitats.