Cattle-eating Tiger Residents In Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu Hasn't Been Caught

BKSDA Bengkulu set a trap for tigers that prey on cattle in Mukomuko, Saturday (18/6/2022). (Between/Ferry)

JAKARTA - The Bengkulu Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) said that a Sumatran tiger that preyed on cattle belonging to a resident of Lubuk Cabau Village, Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu a week ago, was still on the loose.

"The tiger is still there, still roaming around it can be seen from the former cows that were preyed on," said Bengkulu BKSDA Officer Rasyidin in his statement at Mukomuko, Sunday as quoted by Antara.

He said his party had informed and appealed to residents in the area to temporarily reduce activities in areas where tigers and humans conflict.

According to him, at the location where the tiger preyed on the cows of the residents in the area, it was not suitable to be released into the wild because the food was not available in that location.

Regarding the traps that have been installed at the location where the tigers preyed on the residents' cows on Saturday (6/18/2022), he said that until now no tigers had been caught in the traps.

"It is possible that the tiger could be caught in a trap because he kept coming to the place where he was eating," he said.

He said his party is still monitoring to make sure the tiger has entered or not in the equipment installed by the BKSDA in the area.

Meanwhile, the Bengkulu BKSDA set up tiger traps following up on reports from Bahrun, the owner of cattle that were eaten by tigers in the area.

He said that on June 15, 2022, Bahrun, a resident of Lubuk Cabau Village, District V Koto, reported the incident of a tiger eating his cow to Polsek V Koto, then Polsek forwarded this report to BKSDA.

Then his party followed up on the report from the resident on June 16, 2022 by checking in the field and it turned out that the tiger was indeed there.

Then his party reported this incident to the Bengkulu BKSDA regarding the efforts that must be made to deal with tigers that have preyed on cows belonging to local residents.