Tiger mauls logger to death

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Jakarta - A tiger has attacked and mauled to death a bulldozer operator at a

logging operation on the jungle-covered Indonesian island of Sumatra, a

nature protection official said on Wednesday.

" The tiger attacked the man as he was relieving himself near the base camp

of his company on Monday evening, " said Lukman, from Riau province's nature

conservation office.

Lukman said his office would send a team to the area later on Wednesday to

try to trap alive the animal, of which only 400 to 500 are estimated to

remain on the island.

The animal " continued to appear in the area until late in the evening, after

workers using heavy machinery managed to get it to drop the body " , he said.

The company was logging secondary forest in the Kampar Kiri Hilir area.

Tigers on Sumatra, one of Indonesia's biggest islands, have killed about 40

people in the past five years, with 18 deaths in 2004 alone, as their

dwindling habitat brings them into contact with humans, environment official

have said.

Poaching and destruction by loggers, legal or illegal, were forcing the

Sumatran tigers into smaller areas, causing an increase in attacks.

 

Jakarta Post 1/9/05