2 Sumatran Tigers Die Due To Traps In East Aceh, LSGK Urges Police To Arrest Perpetrators

Officers install police line at the location where the Sumatran tiger carcass was found (Via ANTARA)

BANDA ACEH - Environmental activists from the Suar Galang Justice Institute (LSGK) have asked law enforcement officials to uncover and arrest the culprits behind the deaths of two Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) in East Aceh Regency, Aceh Province.

LSGK Program Manager Missi Muizzan said that his party condemned the actions of any irresponsible person which resulted in two Sumatran tigers being entangled in Sri Mulya Village, Peunaron District, East Aceh Regency.

"LSGK is optimistic that law enforcement in East Aceh will be able to uncover the perpetrators of the death of the Sumatran tiger in East Aceh," he said in Banda Aceh, Antara, Thursday, April 28.

Law enforcement can learn from the case of crimes against wildlife that previously occurred in East Aceh, where an individual Sumatran elephant was found dead without a head.

Currently, he said, the perpetrators of the crime of elephant deaths have been prosecuted and have been convicted by the East Aceh District Court, which is legally proven to have violated Law No. 5 of 1990 concerning the conservation of living natural resources and their ecosystems.

"In this case, law enforcement officers in East Aceh have shown commitment and attention as well as good coordination on behalf of the state in handling cases of conservation of natural resources and their ecosystems in Aceh, especially in East Aceh," he said.

Therefore, LSGK hopes that law enforcement in the jurisdiction of East Aceh is able to uncover the perpetrators behind the deaths of two Sumatran tigers that died from being caught in a snare. At the same time, the perpetrators can be tried in accordance with the legislation.

"Because this act should be suspected of being done intentionally to ensnare protected wild animals with the aim of trading parts of the bodies of wild animals caught in snares for profit," he said.

Of course, according to him, the disclosure of this case is a benchmark for law enforcement in Aceh in disclosing cases of tiger deaths in Aceh.

"Because from LSGK records there are several cases of non-natural Sumatran tiger deaths, such as the two cases in South Aceh handled by the South Aceh Police, which still remain a mystery and have not been able to catch the perpetrators until now," said Missi Muizzan.

Previously, the East Aceh Police (Polres) stated that two Sumatran tigers were found dead in the forest of Sri Mulya Village, Peunaron District, East Aceh Regency.

"Based on the information we received, two tigers were found dead in the remote area," said East Aceh Police Chief AKBP Mahmun Hari Sandy Sinurat in East Aceh, last Sunday, April 24.

He said that after receiving the information, the local police chief along with a number of his members and members of the 01/Pnr Peunaron Koramil headed to the location of the dead tiger.

Arriving at the location, said the Police Chief, there were two tigers, consisting of a female mother and a male, presumed dead, with the condition of the second leg being entangled in thick wire.

"It is presumed that the two tigers died from being caught in a pig's snare because when it was found the condition of the legs of the two tigers was entangled with a type of thick wire mesh or commonly called a sling," he said.