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Fatal tiger attacks highlight Sumatra's rising forest degradation
Last year’s tiger attacks led to the burning of the South Bukit Barisan National Park management office by an angry mob who demanded that authorities swiftly evacuate the tiger out of the area.
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Rare but dangerous: A Sumatran tiger is seen at the Medan zoo in Medan, North Sumatra, on Jan. 15, 2024. (AFP/Iwan Gunadi)
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wo fatal Sumatran tiger attacks that occurred in the past month along with a rise in tigers preying on livestock have once again highlighted growing habitat loss and escalating forest degradation that threaten endangered species in Sumatra.
Last week, Zainuddin, a 28-year-old coffee farmer from Kegeringan village in West Lampung Regency, Lampung Province, was killed in a suspected tiger attack.
He had been missing for three days before a villager discovered parts of his hand near his coffee farm, along with tiger paw prints nearby.
Zainuddin was reportedly among many locals illegally farming coffee within the South Bukit Barisan National Park, a protected area that spans 360,000 hectares (ha) and is home to endangered species like Sumatran elephants, rhinos and tigers.
Since 2010, the park has struggled with widespread encroachment as thousands of residents have invaded its forests to cultivate crops such as coffee, cacao and rice.
The incident adds to the growing number of fatalities from tiger attacks in West Lampung in recent years.
Last year, three villagers were killed and one more was severely injured in similar attacks in Bandar Negeri Suoh district.
