A Farmer In South Aceh Was Attacked By A Tiger, He Didn't Die But His Leg Was Injured

A female tiger named Putroe Kapho comes out of her cage when released into the Gunung Leuser National Park area. (Antara/BKSDA Aceh)

JAKARTA - The Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) stated that a farmer from Seulakat Village, East Bakongan District, South Aceh Regency was attacked by a tiger in his garden, causing an injury to his right leg.

Head of the Conservation Section for Region II Subulussalam BKSDA Aceh Hadi Sofyan who was contacted from Banda Aceh, Saturday, said the victim named Muhajir (42) was attacked by a tiger while harvesting chilies in his garden.

"It happened Saturday, around 11.00 WIB. The victim has been evacuated to a hospital in Tapaktuan, the capital of South Aceh Regency for further medical treatment," he said as quoted by Antara.

He said the incident started when the victim was in his garden harvesting chilies. Suddenly a tiger appeared from the bushes around the garden.

The victim who saw the protected animal immediately ran for safety by climbing a tree. The tiger chased and attacked the victim until his right leg was injured.

"The victim managed to climb a higher tree. Next, the victim contacted the residents asking for help. A number of residents came to help the victim. The distance between the garden and residential areas is about two kilometers," said Hadi Sofyan.

He said the appearance of tigers in the area had been going on for seven months. Currently, there are three tiger individuals who have been detected frequently entering the residents' gardens.

"One of them has been evacuated and released to another place after entering the trap cage that was installed. It is estimated that the tiger that attacked the farmer was one of the two individuals," he said.

He said that currently there are four trap cages installed in a number of places in East Bakongan District and Trumon District, South Aceh District. In these two sub-districts, there are frequent reports of tigers roaming the residents' gardens.

In addition, his party installed monitoring cameras in a number of places in the region. However, until now no tiger has been detected, until finally it was reported that tigers attacked farmers.

"We continue to make efforts to overcome the tiger disturbance. We also urge the public to be aware of the appearance of tigers, especially in their gardens near forests. If you go to the garden, try not to do it alone," said Hadi Sofyan.