Jakarta Globe, Nurdin Hasan, July 7, 2013
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| A Sumatran Tiger sits inside its cage at a Sumatran Tiger Captivity Center in Safari Park Indonesia, Cisarua, West Java, on Oct. 10.2011. (JG Photo/ Jurnasyanto Sukarno) |
Banda Aceh.
Search and rescue crews began the long trek into the depths of the Gunung Leuser
National Park on Saturday to rescue five men who spent the last three days
trapped in a tree after Sumatran tigers killed and ate a sixth member of their
party, police said.
A 30-member
team entered the 7,927 square-kilometer national park on Saturday after
villagers’ attempts to rescue the men were thwarted by the site of four
Sumatran tigers near the base of the tree, Aceh Tamiang Police chief Adj. Sr.
Comr. Dicky Sondani said on Sunday.
“It might
need two or three days to walk on foot to the depths of Leuser jungle,” Dicky
said. “If the tigers are still under the tree, we will have to shoot and
anesthetize them so that we can rescue the five [men].”
The men,
all residents of Simpang Kiri village in Aceh Tamiang district, entered the
dense national forest in search of the agarwood — known locally as gaharu — a
rare and extremely expensive type of heartwood used in the production of
aromatic oils and incense. Resin-infused agarwood is the result of a mold that
infects the alim tree (aquilaria malaccensis), an endangered tropical evergreen
found in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
A kilogram
of agarwood can fetch some Rp 5 million ($505), Dicky said, but the jungles of
the Gunung Leuser National Park house dangerous tigers and elephants. The
police recently had to rescue another group of men trapped in the park, he
said.
“It’s worse
this time because there are tigers waiting for the villagers,” Dicky said.
“People keep entering the jungle to look for alim wood because it’s very
expensive; up to Rp 5 million ($505) per kilogram. But, well, that’s the risk;
there are many tigers and elephants in Gunung Leuser’s jungle.”
The men
were attacked by tigers on Thursday after they caught and killed a tiger cub in
a snare meant to catch a deer, police said. Nearby tigers drawn to the scene of
the injured cub and pounced on the men, killing and eating 28-year-old David as
the five others climbed a tree to safety.
The
residents of Simpang Kiri village entered the national park after the men
called for help on their cell phones. But as the villagers neared the tree, the
site of four large tigers and David’s partially eaten remains kept the rescue
party at bay.
They have
remained in the tree for three days.
Tiger
attacks have become increasingly common in Sumatra, where palm oil and pulp
plantations have destroyed much of the rainforest, shrinking animal habitats
and putting the endangered tigers in contact with local residents. More than a
hundred Sumatran tigers are believed to roam the grounds of the Gunung Leuser
National Park, according to reports.
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