Human Contact Leading to Odd Habits in Jambi Sumatran Tigers

Jakarta Globe | March 16, 2013

Jambi's Sumatran tigers have been behaving strangely following a surge in contact with humans, zoologists say.

Wisnu Whardana, a veterinarian and zoologist from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said increased sightings of the once-elusive creatures suggested a serious loss of their habitat as well as a decline in prey populations.

Wisnu pointed out that tigers normally avoid human settlements and plantations, but recent cases in Jambi, a province in central Sumatra, showed tigers are becoming more accustomed to human habitats.

There has also been a change in their feeding patterns, he said, with cattle found only partially consumed.

"Usually tigers would eat [their prey] to the bone. Now they just eat half a leg and leave," he said.

Wisnu postulated that Sumatran tigers in Jambi had contracted diseases from domesticated animals that led to uncharacteristic eating habits, but added further research was still needed.

Earlier this month a Jambi man sustained serious wounds to his left thigh after being attacked by a Sumatran tiger.

Sutrisno, 45, was tapping for rubber on his plantation.

The attack came just two weeks after two farmers in Jambi's West Tanjung Jabung were attacked by tigers and hospitalized. Last month, a domesticated cow in Batanghari was killed and eaten by tigers.

The Jambi chapter of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) said the vast majority of Sumatra's tiger population live inside the Kerinci Seblat National Park.

The conservation area contains territory in three provinces — Jambi, West Sumatra and Bengkulu — and was heavily affected by recent floods.

Massive deforestation was also blamed for the increasing number of encounters with the species, of which there are only 30 to 40 in the entire province of Jambi.

BKSDA official and veteran tiger conservationist Bastoni said his office was seeking advice from Wisnu, who is also a consultant to zoos throughout the country, to help catch and relocate the tigers away from human populations.

The BKSDA, he said, has also employed two marksmen to sedate the tigers and help with relocation efforts, as well as locals familiar with the jungle and trained to locate the animals.

"This is what we are trying to do. Conservation of these tigers is not the responsibility of BKSDA alone but the whole society," he said.


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