Indonesia: Elephant and tiger attacks on humans escalate as habitat diminishes

As more people move into previously untouched forests, large animals
such as elephants, tigers and orangutans are being deprived of the
large habitats required to sustain their populations, according to
Arnold Sitompul, head of Elephant Forum. “The main reason (for
conflicts) is habitat loss. There is a lot of habitat loss going on in
Indonesia for plantations, mining,” he told the AFP. Without their
habitats, animals sometimes move in to newly settled areas at the
periphery of the forest, trampling and devouring crops and sometimes
terrorizing villagers with deadly results.

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The latest attack occurred on Tuesday, when two women were trampled to
death by a pair of elephants on the northern tip of Sumatra island in
Aceh province. Another six villagers narrowly escaped with their lives
during the attack, which happened after the elephants entered an
illegally cleared field from nearby jungle. Just days earlier, two
Sumatran tigers killed a rubber-tapper in Jambi as he urinated outside
his hut, according to an AFP report. Human-animal conflicts are on the
rise in Indonesia, a nation with a growing population of 234 million
and some of the world’s largest remaining tropical forests. “Elephants
can tolerate some disturbances but if you go there and set up
settlements it will lead to conflict… Why is that? Because elephants
don’t like humans and humans are scared of elephants, because they’re
big,” said Sitompul. Shootings and poisonings of animals in these
conflict areas are commonplace. Indeed, at least 45 elephants were
killed from poisoning between 2002 and 2006 in Indonesia’s Riau
province alone, according to an AFP report that cited data from the
environmental group WWF.

“In places like Aceh, conflict between humans
and elephants and humans and tigers is increasing,” said Ian Kosasih,
the WWF’s forest program director. Although there are no solid figures
on how many conflicts are happening throughout Indonesia, “in some
areas you can’t say it’s increasing but it’s still there … I’m sure
it’s not getting better anywhere,” Kosasih said. Indonesia’s Sumatra
island was covered with forests until just decades ago, and is a
hotspot for conflicts between humans, tigers and elephants, Kosasih
said. Kalimantanm, on Indonesia’s portion of Borneo island, is the
epicenter of a more one-sided conflict, with frequent killings of
orangutans that stray onto fast growing palm oil plantations and
farms. Local governments and non-governmental organizations are
striving to lessen the conflicts, but have so far found only mixed
success. After the most recent attack in Aceh province, the local
conservation authority sent a team of 15 people, along with four tame
elephants, to frighten the wild elephants back into the jungle. But
such moves are only temporary as forest habitats continue to be
destroyed, said Aceh conservation agency chief Andi Basrul.

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