When the King of the Jungle Reveals Its Stripes in Agam

Lubuk Basung (ANTARA) – Saturday, 28 February, around 09:30 Western Indonesian Time, Dedi Saputra (35) was riding his motorcycle to his rice fields about one kilometre from his home. He parked his motorcycle at the roadside near the location of his fields. He then walked to the paddy fields. During the journey, the long-haired man was startled by a wild animal: a Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). The protected species is protected by Indonesian Law Number 5 of 1990 as amended by Law Number 32 of 2024 on the Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Ecosystems. It tried to approach him. Seeing the animal, Dedi tried to tell Syafril alias Cap (64), who was at that time near a cattle shed not far away, to come help. They tried to shoo the tiger away, but the king of beasts did not leave and looked confused. ‘The tiger was confused and we tried to drive it away; it stayed for about 20 minutes in the area, at a distance of only about 15 metres from the shed, before the tiger slipped into a corridor towards the undergrowth,’ Cap said. He suspects the tiger was in ill health and seemed to be signalling its health condition or asking to be treated. Sumatran tigers usually do not reveal their stripes, let alone venture into community farms or plantations. Previously, the Sumatran tiger had also approached residents while clearing plantation land for bananas in Ladang Ateh, Jorong Palupuh, Nagari Pasia Laweh, Palupuh district, on Thursday (26 February). The landowner captured the moment on his mobile phone, and the appearance of the tiger went viral on social media. Following the sighting, he reported it to the Anak Nagari Patrol Team (Pagari) Pasia Laweh, Palupuh district. On Saturday afternoon (28 February), the Pagari Pasia Laweh Team together with residents of Tabuah-Tabuah carried out measures to manage the negative interaction between humans and the tiger. At the site, the Pagari Pasia Laweh team searched for the animal’s presence by looking for tracks and set up camera traps or traps at the site of the tiger’s appearance and the nearby hills. The Pagari Pasia Laweh team and the Tabuah-Tabuah community installed two camera traps at the tiger’s emergence site in the rice field belonging to a Tabuah-Tabuah resident, Jorong Palupuh, Nagari Pasia Laweh, Palupuh district, Agam Regency. For the second location, it was set up in the hills or ridges about 200 metres from the first site.