An 18-months old male Sumatran tiger has been found dead in a case of poaching, Indonesian authorities said Tuesday. They emphasized the threats to the survival of the critically endangered species.
The tiger’s decomposing body was found on Monday with his leg caught in a trap near a palm oil plantation in Sumatra’s Riau province.
“It had already been dead for several days when the team found it,” said local conservation agency head Suharyono. “We concluded it was intentional because the hunter tied a pig carcass to the trap in order to attract and kill the tiger.”
Hunters often kill tigers to sell their skins to collectors. Illegal hunting is responsible for almost 80 percent of Sumatran tiger deaths, according to TRAFFIC, a global wildlife trade monitoring network.
In February, a Sumatran tiger was found dead in Bengkulu province after being caught in a hunter’s trap. A month earlier, authorities in Aceh province arrested a man after he offered to sell a tiger skin to an undercover officer.
Less than 400 Sumatran tigers are believed to still live in the wild.
Source: AFP
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