Sunday, July 15, 2007

Elephant and tiger population in West Sumatra down

Antara News
July 12, 2007

Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The population of tiger and elephant in West Sumatra`s 21 conserved forests has continued to decrease due to illegal logging activities and human encroachment.

"We don`t have the exact number of their current population. However, we believe that the number has tended to drop over the last five years," Indra Arinal, the head of the West Sumatra Natural Resource Conservation Office, said here on Thursday.

He estimated that the population of tiger in West Sumatra Province was currently about 50 heads.

Poaching has also threatened Sumatra`s tigers, he said. In 2006, three tigers died, and this year one tiger was killed by local residents.

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