A tiger has reportedly attacked and mauled a rubber plantation worker to death in Indonesia – decapitating the man in the process.
A Sumatran tiger sits in its exhibit at a zoo in Jakarta in this file photo from 2008. (EPA Photo)
Relatives said the headless body of Karman Lubis, 32, was found Tuesday at a rubber plantation in Ranto Panjang village on the outskirts of the Batang Gadis National Park in the Mandailing Utara district of North Sumatra.
Mr Karman, a rubber sap tapper at the plantation, had been missing since Monday. A tiger had been seen roaming the area a few days earlier, according to a report in the Jakarta Globe.
“Several days ago, there were several villagers who did indeed see a roaming tiger, but at the time the tiger did not attack. The wild animal did not attack maybe because there were many villagers,” the victim’s uncle, Amiruddin Nasution, said.
Mr Amiruddin said that he joined other villagers in a search for Mr Karman after he failed to return home from the plantation on Monday.
“We immediately went to the rubber plantation and found the bloodied clothes of the victim. The headless body was found not far from the clothes,” Mr Amiruddin said.
He added that Mr Karman’s head and body were full of claw marks.
Nurazman Nurdin, an official with the provincial nature conservation agency, said that the tiger is suspected in attacks on five other people.
A farmer and four plantation workers were hospitalised with injuries in those attacks, Nurdin said.
The attack on Mr Karman has spread fear among villagers, with some refusing to leave their homes.
“Some of the people here are scared and it has been jointly agreed to form a group to conduct surveillance on the village to anticipate attacks by the tiger who is looking for new prey,” Darma Lubis, another villager, said.
Indonesia is home to some 400 Sumatran tigers, which are on the brink of extinction because of deforestation, poaching and clashes with people. The World Wildlife Fund says their numbers have dwindled to about 400, down from about 1,000 in the 1970s.
The biggest threat to conservation is conflict with humans, according to the 2009 report by the Forestry Ministry. On average, five to 10 Sumatran tigers have been killed every year since 1998, the report said.
Deforestation and human encroachment on the tiger’s habitat have been blamed for an increasing number of encounters with Sumatran tigers.