Tiger 2 – Loggers Nil

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Over the weekend a Sumatran tiger killed two illegal loggers making it a total of five deaths by the endangered animal within a month on Sumatra.

The 50-year-old man and his 18-year-old son were apparently sleeping beside their stash of stolen wood on Saturday morning when the cat attacked, in this case well within the animals “designated habitat”.

What I find strange about the last statement is that once upon a time, the whole island of Sumatra was the tiger’s habitat, now it seems that a few enclaves which are not connected by any form of corridor are where the endangered felines are imprisoned.

The conservation authority were quick to point out that there would be no attempt to track, capture and relocate the man eater as “This time it was the loggers' fault,"

           

Three people were killed in two separate attacks in late January in the area. Park rangers last week trapped an adult tigress believed responsible for the deaths and it was being relocated.

As I have ranted before, the main reason for the conflict between tigers and humans is the rapidly diminishing “habitat” due to deforestation caused by the current “need” for palm oil and wood pulp plantations in Sumatra. With every acre cropped, a tiger loses a stripe, so much so that in thirty years the population has dropped from 1,000 to 250. (If a human population decrease in the order of 75% took place over 30 years I am sure the area would have been designated a disaster zone)

 I really feel no sorrow for the logger and his son, although I am sure that economic necessity had driven them to break the law. It’s old Sher Khan who gets my vote this time…..