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Oil palm farmer mauled to death by tiger in Riau
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In this file photo, officials of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) examine the body of a Sumatran tiger killed by poachers in September 2010. (JP/Rizal Harahap)
A
farmer named Jumiati, 30, was mauled to death by a tiger on Wednesday morning while working in an oil palm plantation in Pelangiran district, Indragiri Hilir regency, Riau.
Pelangiran Police chief First Insp. Muhammad Rafi said that the tiger, believed to be a Sumatran tiger, appeared without warning at around 10 a.m. in an area where Jumiati and two other workers, Yusmawati and Fitriyanti, were pruning weeds and recording data on oil palm trees.
The plantation is owned by PT Tabung Haji Indo Plantation (THIP).
Upon spotting the animal, the three immediately fled the scene, but the tiger was still able to corner them.
"To save themselves, they climbed the 2-meter-high oil palm trees. But the tiger caught Jumiati by the leg and she fell out of her tree," Rafi said. "According to [Yusmawati and Fitriyanti], Jumiati wrestled with the tiger until it bit her in the neck."
The two waited in the trees for two hours until a truck carrying workers passed by during their lunch break.
They later reported the incident to the Pelangiran Police.
"But the tiger had gone [by the time officers arrived]. We found [Jumiati’s] body in the bushes,” Rafi said.
Several days before the incident, several Pelangiran residents reported about a tiger wandering into their neighborhood.
Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) spokesperson Dian Indriati said the BKSDA was still unable to confirm whether it was a Sumatran tiger that attacked Jumiati, pending an ongoing assessment. (vla/ipa)
