In the claws of disaster<\/p>\n
\"It has never happened before,\" said Saman Sitorus when asked if
\nhe has recollection of a similar incident in his lifetime about
\nSumatran tigers attacking defenseless villagers.<\/p>\n
Saman is the geucik (head) of the upland village Tumban Tua in
\nAceh Tenggara, which is the site of the latest tiger attack, news
\nthat sent shock and terror to upland villages in the district of
\nAceh Tenggara, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province.<\/p>\n
On the morning of May 11, 2005, a Sumatran tiger attacked
\nLacuis, 57, while he was tending his farm. The remains of his
\nbody were found during the night by villagers who were alarmed
\nwhen Lacuis failed to return before sunset, as he used to.<\/p>\n
This incident in Tumban Tua is the fourth recorded occurrence
\nof such attacks in Aceh Tenggara, all of which happened this year
\nalone.<\/p>\n
Male Sumatran tigers average 2.75 meters in length and weigh
\n120 kilograms while females average 2.5 m in length and weigh
\nabout 90kg. The Sumatran tigers is smaller compared with other
\ntiger subspecies but its physical size enables it to swim faster
\nand move quickly inside the forest.<\/p>\n
Sumatran tigers can only be found in the island of Sumatra and
\nare classified as an endangered species. It is believed that no
\nmore than 500 of them live in the wild. A large proportion of
\nSumatran tigers live in Gunung Leuser National Park and in the
\nLeuser ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\"We failed to protect the forest, and now the tigers are
\nangry,\" said Saman. He believes that the tigers are attacking the
\nvillages as punishment, for their failure to fulfill their
\nresponsibilities as protectors of the forests.<\/p>\n
\"It means only one thing,\" said Zulfikar Arma of the local
\nresearch group Remeja Melati Tunas Marhamah (RMTM), \"The Sumatran
\ntigers are being forced out into the open because their habitat
\nhas already been destroyed.\"<\/p>\n
According to Zulfikar, rampant logging inside the protected
\narea led to the destruction of the habitats of many wildlife,
\nincluding the endemic Sumatran tigers, elephants and rhinoceros,
\nand the famed orangutans.<\/p>\n
Famous watersheds like the Ketambe and Uring Sigugur, once
\nfavored watering holes of elephants and other wildlife, have long
\nsince received such magnificent visitors.<\/p>\n
\"Rivers are also drying up, turning many agricultural areas
\ninto vast cogon grasslands,\" said Zulfikar.<\/p>\n
The district of Aceh Tenggara has been the site of calamities
\nsuch as soil erosion, floods and drought that occurs yearly.<\/p>\n
Yet the disaster agency Palang Merah Indonesia in the district
\nseems at a loss as to why calamities keep on repeating in Aceh
\nTenggara, making it a dangerous place to live.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know the answer,\" said agency head Indra Utama.<\/p>\n
Aceh Tenggara regent Armen Desky is not worried about the
\nstate of his constituents.<\/p>\n
Armen acknowledges that floods and erosion are annual
\ncalamities in his district but are attributed to the rainy
\nseason. The latest flashflood, which occurred on April 27, 2005,
\nhas been attributed by the regent to the constant earthquakes
\nthat are occurring in Aceh following the tsunami.<\/p>\n
\"There has been no major damage in past years; only this
\nyear,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Zulfikar, however, believed that all the calamities were
\ncaused by rampant logging within the Leuser Ecosystem; therefore,
\nhe called on the government to stop it.<\/p>\n
Until that time, the forests that nurtured generations of
\nupland farmers, including the forefathers of Saman, will never be
\nsafe again.<\/p>\n
-- Riedo Panaligan<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/in-the-claws-of-disaster-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }