Outrage as extremely rare Sumatran tiger pregnant with two cubs is killed in pig trap
AN endangered tiger pregnant with two cubs was found dead in Indonesia after being caught in a pig trap.
The four-year-old Sumatran tiger was found dead on Wednesday in a ravine in the Indonesian province of Riau, days after being caught the trap.
The head of the local conservation agency, Suharyono, said the tiger was reportedly trapped earlier this week, escaped and was found dead about 150 metres (500 feet) from the trap.
Part of the tiger’s snare wrapped around her body which consequently ruptured a kidney according to authorities.
It was pregnant with a male and female cub.
Suharyono, who only identifies himself by his first name, said a suspect from a village in the province of Riau who admitted to setting traps for pigs was arrested for questioning.
He said: "We will cooperate with law-enforcement agencies for an investigation and to launch an operation against wild hunters and traps.”
There are only about 400 Sumatran tigers left in the world, making them critically endangered species mostly due to the expansion of palm oil plantations.
In May, a zookeeper accused of boiling big cat bones to make wine has been mauled to death by a tiger.
The man in his 50s, who has not been named, was cleaning the animals’ enclosure when he was attacked.
A statement released by the Guilin government said officials are probing the keeper’s death – the zoo’s second in 14 years after another staff member died while feeding the big cats in 2004.
Anyone in Indonesia caught hunting tigers could face jail time and steep fines.
In China, however, some people see dead tigers as a business opportunity.
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When the animals die, they are carted off to a factory to make Chinese tiger bone wine, the Daily Mail reported.
The drink – a sickly, sweet 38 per cent proof liquor – is thought by many in the country to improve sex drive.
The tigers are reportedly boiled and their bones steeped in huge vats of rice wine for up to eight years to make the illicit booze – despite a ban on breeding tigers for their parts.
It is then allegedly flogged for hundreds of pounds per bottle in flash hotels and posh restaurants.
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