In the claws of disaster

"It has never happened before," said Saman Sitorus when asked if he has recollection of a similar incident in his lifetime about Sumatran tigers attacking defenseless villagers.

Saman is the geucik (head) of the upland village Tumban Tua in Aceh Tenggara, which is the site of the latest tiger attack, news that sent shock and terror to upland villages in the district of Aceh Tenggara, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province.

On the morning of May 11, 2005, a Sumatran tiger attacked Lacuis, 57, while he was tending his farm. The remains of his body were found during the night by villagers who were alarmed when Lacuis failed to return before sunset, as he used to.

This incident in Tumban Tua is the fourth recorded occurrence of such attacks in Aceh Tenggara, all of which happened this year alone.

Male Sumatran tigers average 2.75 meters in length and weigh 120 kilograms while females average 2.5 m in length and weigh about 90kg. The Sumatran tigers is smaller compared with other tiger subspecies but its physical size enables it to swim faster and move quickly inside the forest.

Sumatran tigers can only be found in the island of Sumatra and are classified as an endangered species. It is believed that no more than 500 of them live in the wild. A large proportion of Sumatran tigers live in Gunung Leuser National Park and in the Leuser ecosystem.

"We failed to protect the forest, and now the tigers are angry," said Saman. He believes that the tigers are attacking the villages as punishment, for their failure to fulfill their responsibilities as protectors of the forests.

"It means only one thing," said Zulfikar Arma of the local research group Remeja Melati Tunas Marhamah (RMTM), "The Sumatran tigers are being forced out into the open because their habitat has already been destroyed."

According to Zulfikar, rampant logging inside the protected area led to the destruction of the habitats of many wildlife, including the endemic Sumatran tigers, elephants and rhinoceros, and the famed orangutans.

Famous watersheds like the Ketambe and Uring Sigugur, once favored watering holes of elephants and other wildlife, have long since received such magnificent visitors.

"Rivers are also drying up, turning many agricultural areas into vast cogon grasslands," said Zulfikar.

The district of Aceh Tenggara has been the site of calamities such as soil erosion, floods and drought that occurs yearly.

Yet the disaster agency Palang Merah Indonesia in the district seems at a loss as to why calamities keep on repeating in Aceh Tenggara, making it a dangerous place to live.

"I don't know the answer," said agency head Indra Utama.

Aceh Tenggara regent Armen Desky is not worried about the state of his constituents.

Armen acknowledges that floods and erosion are annual calamities in his district but are attributed to the rainy season. The latest flashflood, which occurred on April 27, 2005, has been attributed by the regent to the constant earthquakes that are occurring in Aceh following the tsunami.

"There has been no major damage in past years; only this year," he said.

Zulfikar, however, believed that all the calamities were caused by rampant logging within the Leuser Ecosystem; therefore, he called on the government to stop it.

Until that time, the forests that nurtured generations of upland farmers, including the forefathers of Saman, will never be safe again.

-- Riedo Panaligan