Indonesian Authorities Captured A Sumatran Tiger That Killed Two Residents of Jambi

A joint team of police and the Jambi Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) managed to capture a Sumatran tiger (Phantera tigris sumatrae) that had mauled two residents of Merangin Regency, Jambi, Indonesia, some time ago.

Quoted from Kompas.com, Sunday (10/17/2021), the Sumatran tiger was caught in a trap set by the Jambi BKSDA and the Merangin Police in village of Air Batu , Merangin Regency.

Merangin Chief of Police, AKBP Irwan Andy Purnamawan, said that the man-eater tiger was caught in a trap on Saturday (16/10/2021) at around 15:00 Western Indonesia Time. The video of the captured tiger can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aOD_M00ddc.

A screengrab from the video of the captured Sumatran Beast that terrorized Jambi.

The animal then was evacuated by the BKSDA and the Sungai Manau Police, Merangin. "The tiger will be taken to the BKSDA animal shelter in Jambi City and on its way from Air Batu Village to Jambi," said Irwan.

Irwan said the Jambi BKSDA had set up tiger traps around the location of the incident in Air Batu Village, Renah Pembarap District, Merangin Regency. 

The Sumatran Tiger Attacks in Merangin Regency

The last victim lost his life on Wednesday (13/10/2021). According to Viva, the victim was a young man named Abu Bakar (19) who died after the tiger attacked him in Bukit Tamenit, Air Batu Village, Renah Pembarap District, Merangin Regency at around 17:15 Western Indonesian Time. 

The young man was attacked by the Sumatran tiger while he was looking for a cell phone signal with his three friends in Tamenit Hill. Arriving at the location, the victim sat on the side of the road facing the forest bushes. "While playing a (cell phone) game, suddenly a tiger pounced in front of the victim, bit the victim's left hand and took him into the forest," said Andy. 

The three friends ran away to get help but the victim had suffered fatal injuries on his neck and hands. The Victim's body was found around 18:30 Western Indonesia Time.

As quoted from Tribun News, the tiger's first fatal victim was a gold miner named Rasidin (43), a resident of Guguk Village, Renah Pembarap District, Merangin Regency, Jambi.

The victim lost his life after he was attacked by the Sumatran tiger in the Batu Tunggal area, on the border between Guguk Village and Muaro Siau District, on Saturday 25 September, 2021 at around 21:30 Western Indonesia Time. The tiger killed the miner when he was resting after panning for gold in the Nilo river all day.

According to Simpang Parit village chief (26/9/2021), Mustarupi, the victim was with other Guguk residents and several people from Muara Siau District. The other miners took shelter inside an excavator thus they were able to avoid the tiger. The victim didn't have time to climb the heavy equipment and became the tiger's prey. 

A captive Sumatran Tiger in Berlin Tierpark zoon, Germany.

According to the witnesses, the tiger was huge but skinny.

A tiger also  attacked a woman named Pami (52), a rubber tapper, resident of Marus Village, Renah Pembarap, Merangin Regency.  As reported by Viva on 14 October 2021, the incident did not result in a fatality but left the victim with scratches on her hands and back. It is presumably the same tiger who had fatally attacked Abu Bakar.

The victim and the her husband were harvesting rubber in a plantation, 2 Km from their home. However, when the victim was walking while holding a rubber basket, suddenly from behind a Sumatran Tiger appeared. The beast immediately pounced on Pami. Luckily, Pami's husband immediately shouted for help. At that time, the husband also tried to chase the tiger away by throwing the harvested rubber. The tiger eventually left. 

The Sumatran tiger is a population of Panthera tigris sondaica on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. This population was listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2008. There is about 441 to 679 individuals left in the wild. Conflict with human is increasing as the habitat of the Sumatran tigers is declining rapidly due to the opening of plantations.