Six camera traps deployed after tiger sighting in West Sumatra
Officers from the Maninjau Conservation Resort under the West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) were dispatched to Ladang Ateh in Pasia Laweh Village, Palupuh Subdistrict, to address the reported human-wildlife conflict.
“We have deployed a team to handle the situation by installing six camera traps,” said Ade Putra, head of the Maninjau Conservation Resort, on Friday.
The cameras were placed along suspected wildlife corridors based on footprints and scratch marks found at the site.
They are intended to identify the tiger’s age and sex and to monitor its movements, particularly after residents reported a video showing the animal on privately owned plantation land.
The appearance of a single tiger in Ladang Ateh recently went viral on social media, prompting concerns among villagers.
“In response to the video of the tiger’s appearance, we immediately sent a team to manage the situation,” Ade said.
He added that the BKSDA-West Sumatra office has coordinated with local authorities and relevant agencies in the field.
The agency also deployed the Pasia Laweh Nagari Patrol Team, known as Pagari, for initial response efforts.
“The Pagari Pasia Laweh team has been mobilized following reports of the Sumatran tiger sighting,” he said.
Authorities urged residents to temporarily avoid activities near the sighting location and to secure livestock to prevent potential attacks.
Earlier, three Sumatran tigers were captured on closed-circuit television cameras at the Bukit Kototabang Global Atmosphere Watch station in Palupuh district, Agam, on Monday (Feb. 23).
Officials said it remains unclear whether those tigers are the same individual seen in Ladang Ateh.
ANTARA noted that Sumatran tigers are the only surviving tiger species in Indonesia, following the extinction of the Bali tiger in 1937 and the Javan tiger in the 1970s.
The Sumatran tiger, the smallest tiger subspecies, is critically endangered and found only on Sumatra Island, Indonesia’s second-largest island.
Its survival is threatened by deforestation, poaching, and increasing human-wildlife conflict caused by shrinking natural habitats.
Estimates place the wild Sumatran tiger population at fewer than 300 to around 500 individuals across 27 locations, including Kerinci Seblat, Tesso Nilo, and Gunung Leuser national parks.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said the population has declined from about 1,000 individuals in the 1970s.
A 2009 Forestry Ministry report identified human conflict as the primary threat, noting an average of five to 10 tigers killed annually since 1998.
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Translator: Altas M, Rahmad Nasution