Bukittinggi, West Sumatra. In recent days, wildlife officials successfully trapped two Sumatran tigers with the intention of relocating them to a conservation park. The decision to capture the tigers arose after sightings of these creatures near residential areas.

On Sunday, a female tiger, estimated to be around five years old, was securely caught inside a cage trap installed by the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in Pasaman Regency, West Sumatra.

Antoni Vevri, the head of West Sumatra’s BKSDA, said the adult tiger was captured after six months of observation and multiple attempts to keep it away from nearby villages.

The captured tiger is currently undergoing examination at a wildlife center in the town of Bukittinggi. It will be relocated to the Sumatran Tiger Rehabilitation Center in the nearby regency of Dharmasraya.

Despite weighing only around 70 kilograms, indicating a slight lack of food, medical examinations suggest that the big cat is in overall good health, according to local wildlife official Yoli Zulfanedi.

"Judging by its physical condition, the tiger is a bit skinny. This could be attributed to the lack of natural prey in its habitat, leading the tiger to venture into residential areas," Yoli said.

Two days earlier, another female tiger was trapped in the South Aceh district in the northern tip of Sumatra Island. The provincial BKSDA set up a cage trap following reports from villagers who frequently encountered the creature in the past two months.

Last month, a 3-year-old female tiger was captured in the Palembayan district, West Sumatra, and subsequently sent to the Dharmasraya rehabilitation center.

Established in 2017, the center focuses on rescuing the critically endangered Sumatran tigers from threats such as poaching and habitat loss due to human settlement and agricultural expansion.

Covering an area of 10 hectares, the sanctuary has enclosures ranging in size from 54 square meters to 2,500 square meters. Once the captured tigers are deemed ready to resume life in the wild, they will be released into their natural habitat.

It is estimated that fewer than 600 Sumatran tigers currently inhabit the wild.

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