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Two Sumatran Tigers Sent to Taman Safari Indonesia
Banda Aceh - The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province sent two Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) to Taman Safari Indonesia.
DNA sampling from both tigers are expected to help save the endangered species from the brink of extinction.
Head of BKSDA Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), Abubakar Chek Mat, interview on Monday (26/4) said that Taman Safari Indonesia (TSI) plans to collect DNA samples from the two tigers. “They will not use the animals for show, only for medical purposes,” he said.
He explained that TSI only borrowed the animals temporarily for medical purposes. Return of the animals is still undetermined.
The tigers are both female, Cut Nyak (5) and Salamah (3). One of Salamah’s leg had to be amputated because it got caught in a steel-wire trap set by locals in Subulussalam.
Meanwhile, Cut Nyak was raised by the military at the Headquarter of Rifle Company C from Battalion 115 Macan Leuser in Trumon, South Aceh.
According to several BKSDA officers, the military had a tiger because it represented the symbol of their battalion, which is Macan Leuser (Leuser Tiger). But difficulties in providing food for the carnivore made the battalion hand over the endangered animal to BKSDA.
Punishment
Mawar Kholis, staff of the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the government must start to consider punishments for people setting steel-wire traps. The traps are considered dangerous for endangered species, such as tigers.
Data from BKSDA NAD states that 7 Sumatran tigers from Aceh have been sent out of the region.
Four of 5 tigers sent to Lampung have been released to the wilderness. Only one more tiger is still quarantined to improve its hunting skills.
“Because the tiger was previously in the care of humans, it had lost some of its hunting skill,” he said.
Cut Nyak will also be quarantined in the future. Being cared by humans had made the tiger lose its hunting skills.
Before, there had been news of another female Sumatran tiger in October last year. She died before both legs could be amputated.
Boar Traps
Several non-government organizations hope the government will regulate the use of boar traps to reduce miss-trapping of endangered species.
The NGOs think it is time to control the use of steel-wire traps by locals because the traps more often catch endangered animals.
The Sumatran tiger population in Aceh is estimated to be less than 250 tigers. (MHD)
Source : Kompas