Tigers driven out from their home forests and farmers killed and eaten. This is the deadly effect of the human-tiger conflict in Indonesia exposed today by the Indonesian environmentalist coalition Eyes on the Forest in a study released today. The report point his finger on the paper conglomerate Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), and its operations in the Senepis tiger habitat - an area that the APP promised to protect, but which is now clear-cutting.
Eyes on the Forest investigated that 14 human-tiger conflict incidences that left 9 people and 3 tigers dead, injured 7 people and removed one tiger from the wild.
APP claims to have a cutting-edge policy in tiger conservation, based on the capture and re-location of tigers. In reality, this company is clearing one of the last habitat of the Sumatran tiger, an animal already close to extinction. Forced out of their home forests, tigers approaches human settlements, with dramatic consequences for both humans and animals.
Pulpwood monocultures are cleared every 6 years causing great disruption for tigers and other wildlife due to the large scale tree felling, the operation of heavy equipment, and the sudden influx of large crews of workers. The infrastructure created for the logging operations allows poachers easy access to tiger habitats where they set snares to capture tigers and their prey.
Recently APP removed one tiger, later named Bima, as a measure to resolve the Pulau Muda conflict, from an unspecified location, in secrecy, without involvement of independent experts, and without apparent evidence that this was the actual conflict tiger. "There are many ways to avoid tiger conflicts, including careful planning and regulation of planting, management and infrastructure development. Forestry companies such as APP have the obligation to protect endangered species living in their concession, instead of capturing them and moving the animals to other areas," says Sunarto, of WWF Indonesia.