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Ritual to banish tiger held in Riau
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Personnel from Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Riau, local residents and oil palm plantation workers gather in Tanjung Simpang village in Pelangiran district of Riau’s Indragiri Hilir regency on Monday after a worker was reportedly chased by a tiger.
(kompas.com/Citra Indriani)
A
female tiger, believed to have mauled to death two people in Riau's Indragiri Hilir regency in recent months, was reportedly spotted this week in an oil palm plantation, causing panic among locals and prompting them to hold a ritual to pray for their safety.
The endangered Sumatran tiger, known as Bonita, reportedly killed a man named Yusri Efendi last month and oil palm farmer Jumiati in January in Tanjung Simpang village in Indragiri Hilir’s Pelangiran district.
The ritual, called Sema Kampung, was held in the village on Tuesday to ensure harmony between humans and wildlife.
“A goat was sacrificed. The meat was cooked and we ate together, while the goat's head was buried in the middle of the oil palm plantation,” Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Riau head Mulyo Hutomo said on Wednesday.
It is believed that the absence of such a ritual was among the reasons for human-animal conflict in the area.
On Monday, a tiger, suspected to be Bonita, roamed around the oil palm plantation in the village and chased a farmer named Iwan, who at that time was harvesting oil palm fruit, BKSDA Riau spokesperson Dian Indriati said.
Iwan jumped into a ditch to save himself before a joint team led by BKSDA rescued him.
Other than intensifying their patrols and installing camera traps in several spots, the team urged plantation workers to work in groups, bring wooden sticks and items that could create sounds to scare the tiger, and even wear human face masks on the back of their heads.
“It creates an illusion of having two faces [to fool tigers], as predators usually attack from behind,” Dian said. (ipa)
