Plantation Workers In Riau Attacked By Tigers, BKSDA Empty 5 Km From Incident

The location of the camp where the Sumatran tiger attacks the company's nursery workers in Pelalawan Regency. (ANTARA/HO-BBKSDA Riau)

JAKARTA - The Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA) vacated the Sumatran tiger incident area that attacked acacia seed plantation workers in Merawang District, Pulau Muda Village, Teluk Meranti District, Pelalawan, Riau.

Head of BBKSDA Riau Genman Suhefti Hasibuan said that his party and the company agreed to vacate the area for 5 kilometers. This was done because the team would identify in the field.

"Hopefully the joint team can identify the tiger that carried out the attack. It is suspected that this individual tiger is still a teenager," he said in Pekanbaru, Riau, Tuesday, August 20, which was confiscated by Antara.

Based on preliminary observations, Genman said that currently the presence of the tigris tigris tiger was no longer found.

Even so, the team continued to install a number of camera traps to identify the wild animals.

According to Genman, the location of this attack was an Industrial Plant Forest (HTI) area. However, the location is also a Sumatran tiger habitat bag in Kerumutan which is known to have a large population.

"Some time ago, it was also based on camera traps, recorded by individual tiger cubs in this Kerumutan bag. So we make sure, the population here has increased," he said.

Previously, an acacia seed care worker in Merawang District, Camp Pelun B, Pulau Muda Village, Teluk Meranti District, Pelalawan was allegedly attacked by a Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), Saturday, August 17 in the morning.

Head of Public Relations of the Riau Regional Police, Kombes Pol. Anom Karbianto, explained that the victim named Jali (40) was aware after feeling pain whose head was bleeding.

The victim then woke up his colleague but when examined around the camp using a flashlight, they did not see any animals in the vicinity. Based on the results of the medical personnel examination, the victim suffered a torn wound to the right side of the head, allegedly caused by a scratch by a Sumatran tiger.