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The exact circumstances of the tiger's death are not clear |
Indonesian
officials are investigating why one of the world's rarest tigers died during
attempts to transport it to a wildlife sanctuary.
The
Sumatran tiger was supposed to have been taken from Banda Aceh on Sumatra
island to the sanctuary on Java.
But for
reasons correspondents say are unclear, the tiger was instead taken back to
Banda Aceh after a stopover.
One report
said airline officials took it off the flight after passengers complained about
an unpleasant smell.
An autopsy
revealed that the tiger died from severe trauma.
Officials
say it died while being taken back to Banda Aceh from Medan, another city on
Sumatra closer to its intended destination.
A spokesman
for Garuda Indonesia airlines insisted that the correct procedures for carrying
the animal were followed.
The spokesman
told the AFP news agency that Garuda would co-operate with forestry ministry
officials in their inquiry.
Wildlife
experts estimate that there are about 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild.
They have
blamed the demise of the animals on rampant human incursions into rapidly
diminishing forests.
'Already
dead'
Correspondents
say that the precise sequence of events leading up to the tiger's death are
disputed - wildlife officials say that the animal may have been mistreated and
that there were passenger complaints about "unpleasant odours".
"When
the tiger arrived [back] in Banda Aceh on the same day, we found out that it
was already dead," conservation agency chief Afan Absory told the AFP news
agency.
He said
that it was being transported with a gibbon and two bearcats, which have a
distinctive smell.
"We
are seeking clarification from the airline as they returned the tiger to Banda
Aceh without informing our official who was flying with them," Mr Absory
said.
Blood was
found coming out of the dead tiger's nose, he added.
Indonesian
forestry ministry spokesman Sumarto Suharno told the BBC that this was not the
first time an animal had died during a flight.
He said
that a tiger died in 2010 on a plane from Yogya to West Sumatra - and in 2008 a
primate died on a flight from Indonesia to Japan.
Correspondents
say that the male tiger that died on Wednesday was rescued in 2010 from a
forest in Aceh province, where it was threatened by human encroachment onto its
territory.
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