BKSDA Confirms Tigers Appear At PTPN 7 Pesawaran Lampung

A gold cat tiger caught on camera by residents in the area of PTPN 7, Gedong Tataan, Pesawaran Regency, Lampung. (ANTARA/HO/BKSDA Lampung)

The Bengkulu-Lampung Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) confirmed the appearance of a gold cat tiger that was caught on camera by residents in the area of PTPN 7, Gedong Tataan, Pesawaran Regency, Lampung.

Head of the Lampung Regional Conservation Section (SKW) III, Joko Susilo, explained that the appearance of tigers in the PTPN 7 area, Gedong Tataan, Pesawaran district is a gold cat.

"From the photos circulating in the online mass media and based on the report of the UPTD KPHK Tahura Wan Abdul Rachman of the Lampung Province Forestry Service and employees of PTPN 1 regional 7, Sukaraja Village through the Call Center SKW III Lampung BKSDA Bengkulu, this type of animal is the Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii)," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, June 14.

His party appealed to the public not to act in arresting, killing, injuring, storing, trading both alive and dead and their parts, because they could be threatened with imprisonment for a maximum of 5 years and a maximum fine of 100 million rupiah. Based on the provisions of article 40 in conjunction with article 21 paragraph (2) of Law Number 5 of 1990 concerning Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and their Ecosystems.

"People don't need to worry and be afraid, because these animals will avoid leaving alone because of their natural nature of moving to find a partner and or territory," he said.

He said the animal was included in the list of protected species based on the Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry Number P.106 of 2018.

"We need to say that, one of the distributions of this type of animal is on the island of Sumatra, this type of cat also lives in the forest area of the Wan Abdul Rachman Grand Forest Park, and the Lindung Forest in its vicinity, even the garden which is still good to cover the canopy, does not rule out the possibility of getting out of the forest if it is chasing prey," he said.

According to him, the animals that are eaten are usually poultry and other small animals, they spend a lot of time in the forest habitat and rest on branched trees.

"The physical characteristics of the gold cat include the color of the hair as the name implies golden brown, but there are also gray and dark brown, weighing about 8 to 12 kg, long from head to tail reaching 1.2 meters," he said.