TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru, Riau - The Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) warned local residents working in the forest against sleeping in huts to avoid Sumatran tiger attacks as had occurred in a recent incident in Siak District.

According to the agency's head, Gennman Hasibuan, a sago worker in Sungai Mungkal Hamlet 3 of Penyengat Village, Sungai Apit Sub-district, Siak District, Riau Province, had been attacked by a tiger on February 17.

The tiger attack occurred when the worker, only identified as FII, 30, had just finished having lunch along with several other sago workers. He survived the attack after his friends drove away the tiger, he remarked.

FII, who got injured due to the tiger attack, harvested sago from trees in the forest near Penyengat Village along with several other workers while the hut without walls that they often used for taking rest was located around 1.5 kilometers away from the village.

"Following the recent tiger attack, the sago workers are suggested to leave the hut and spend the night in the village," Hasibuan noted in a press statement that ANTARA received on Monday.

On safety grounds, Hasibuan called on the village administration officers, sago workers, and local residents to not work or conduct outdoor activities at night alone.

He advised the local residents to do farming activities in groups starting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time while adding that the agency had recorded four tiger sightings in Penyengat Village.

The first sighting was recorded on February 20. It took place at night when a Sumatran tiger entered a house for workers near a palm plantation area and attempted to snatch a sleeping infant's leg, he remarked.

The two-year-old infant survived the tiger attack after his mom woke up and screamed for help. The child, however, suffered wounds on his left leg, he remarked.

ANTARA reported earlier that tiger attacks also occurred in Lampung. In February this year, two local residents in the province were killed by Sumatran tigers.

On Thursday, February 8, 2024, the West Lampung police officers retrieved the body of a resident of Sumber Agung Dua Hamlet in Sumber Agung Village, Suoh Sub-district.

Gunarso, 47, died after being attacked by a Sumatran tiger. In the early morning of Thursday, February 22, 2024, another resident was again attacked by a Sumatran tiger.

The 28-year-old resident of Bumi Hantati Village in Bandar Negeri Suoh Sub-district was also killed.

Sumatran tigers, the smallest of all tigers, are currently a critically endangered species only found on Sumatra, Indonesia's second-largest island.

Tigers are on the brink of extinction owing to deforestation, poaching, and conflicts between wild animals and local people due to their dwindling habitats.

Regarding the HWCs involving Sumatran tigers, the cases were not only found in Lampung but also in several other provinces on Sumatra Island.

The West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) recorded eight cases of HWCs in eight villages of Agam District from January to March 11, 2024

ANTARA

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