A tiger that killed a man in North Sumatra months before being captured on Tuesday is to undergo surgery on a leg hurt in a snare.
North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA North Sumatra) head Irzal Azhar said the steel snare needed to be removed from the leg as soon as possible to prevent infection.
“We’re preparing to conduct surgery to remove the snare from the tiger’s front right leg. The surgery is necessary so the wound can heal,” he said during a press conference on Thursday.
The agency found the tiger alive on Tuesday in Huta Bargot subdistrict, Sosopan district, Padang Lawas regency, after it entered a trap the agency’s team had set.
A farmer was reportedly fatally attacked by the tiger at a rubber plantation in Siraisan, Ulu Barumun district, Padang Lawas, on May 17. A week later, the animal attacked another villager, who was severely injured. The same tiger is also believed to have preyed on a pet monkey on July 10.
Irzal went on to say the snare was the kind hunters typically used to catch boars. The tiger had stepped into the snare before it was finally caught by the BKSDA North Sumatra team, he said.
“The tiger was already wounded when our personnel found it,” he added.
He called on local residents to refrain from setting hazardous traps for tigers, since the animals were an endangered species.
“The tigers are endangered. There are only six of them in Padang Lawas,” Irzal said. (rfa)
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