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Wounded tiger rescued from traditional market on Riau islet
The 3-year-old male tiger was found with snare wounds on its front left and back right legs, while one of its fangs was fractured.
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A tiger is finally rescued on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, after being trapped at a pit under a stilted shophouse on Burung Island, Riau. It was found with snare wounds on its body. (Tribunnews.com/Courtesy of Burung Island Police/-)
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fter escaping a snare and hiding at a traditional market in Indragiri Hilir, Riau, for three days, a tiger was finally rescued on Saturday.
A rescue team from the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BBKSDA Riau) shot the animal with a tranquilizer gun at 1:48 a.m. on Saturday while it was hiding in a pit under a stilted shophouse at a traditional market on Burung Island, an islet located in the regency.
“We had to tear down the shop’s bathroom floor so that we could take out the tiger while it was sedated,” said BBKSDA Riau head Suharyono.
The team struggled to remove the male tiger, which is estimated to weigh about 80 kilograms. The team also had to race against time as the sedative is only effective for two hours.
After it was successfully removed, the animal was placed in a cage and examined by three veterinarians.
“It is approximately 3 years old,” Suharyono said.
The vets found snare wounds on the tiger’s front left and back right legs, while one of its fangs was fractured, which likely occurred during its attempt to break free from the snare.
The tiger will be sent to a conservation center in Dharmasraya, West Sumatra, which is operated by the Arsari Foundation.
From Indragiri Hilir, it will be taken by a speedboat to Tembilahan, a district in Indragiri Hilir, and later transported by truck to Dharmasraya. Considering the rampant hunt on tigers, the agency said the journey would be guarded by police and military personnel.
Suharyono said the BBKSDA was investigating how the tiger got trapped in the market as the islet is not its natural habitat.
“We named [the tiger] Atan Bintang. Atan means young bachelor in Malay while bintang means star, because we rescued him at night under the stars,” he said.
