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Police name ex-regent suspect of illegal tiger skin trade
Local police caught the former Bener Meriah regent and two other suspects as they were trying to sell the skin and bones of a slain Sumatran tiger.
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A female Sumatran tiger roars inside a cage before her release into the wild on June 19, 2020 in the Leuser Ecosystem in southern Aceh. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
T
he Aceh Police have named former Bener Meriah regent Ahmadi as a suspect of wildlife crime involving the skin of a Sumatran tiger, and have detained him along with two other suspects.
The three suspects face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of Rp 100 million (US$6,928).
“They have been detained in order to smoothen the legal process ahead,” said law enforcement chief Subhan of the Sumatra Environment and Forestry Office.
The suspects were caught red-handed on May 23 attempting to sell the skin and bones of the endangered tiger species in Samar Kilang district, Bener Meriah regency, Aceh.
The Sumatran tiger is native to the island and has been classified as critically endangered since 2008 on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Poaching, including through the use of snares, along with the loss of the tigers’ natural habitat are among the primary causes that have reduced the Sumatran tiger population in the wild.
