Man-eating tiger stalks villagers

Man-eating tiger stalks villagers

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: A tiger that devoured a villager and injured
another in the Gunung Tinggi-Pantee Purba district in Aceh Barat
regency last week is still haunting area residents, Antara said
yesterday.

Adian Abdullah, a village leader, told the news agency many
residents claimed to have seen the tiger several times in the
past week on their way to or from their farms.

After last week's attack on the two villagers -- identified as
Hamidi and Basyarian Achmad -- the beast has devoured dogs and
goats belonging to the people. Villagers only managed to find
parts of Hamidi, with the rest believed to have been eaten.

The 3,500 or so residents in the district are too afraid to
walk alone to their farms, Adian said.

The villagers are still waiting for Aceh's Natural
Conservation Agency to send experts to handle the tiger.

Adian said as a last resort, villagers would try to poison the
tiger to put their fear behind them once and for all.

Antara said a 1990 law on wildlife protection states that
anyone who kills or injures a protected species is liable to a
maximum of 10 years imprisonment or a Rp 200 million fine. (emb)