Bandarlampung, Ekuatorial – Not all wildlife animals can adjust after being released to its natural habitat, the latest case was a young male Sumatran tiger released in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park but eventually stranded in the wild.
Jaya Supena, head of Region I of the national park, said that Petir, a three year old Sumatran tiger, was stranded as far as 70 kilometers.
Petir was born in captivity, in Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation belongs to Tomy Winata. On March 2015, he was released to the wild after living with 29 other tigers in captivity.
“GPS installed in its neck detects that this tiger came through the beach, across the river and main roads even entering plantations and residents,” said Supena claiming that Petir was stranded because of limited areas. “Tiger has controlling habit. We suspect because Petir is still young and considered as ‘newcomer’ so he was kind of alienated by elder tigers in the forest.”
Meanwhile, Ferry Wilantara, member of WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), said that Petir had entered cocoa plantation located in Pekon Banyuurip, Wonosobo, Tanggamus district through its GPS collar.
“We detected that he was still at the plantation, hiding and won’t come out on Friday (9/4),” said Wilantara adding that they tried to lure him with a chicken but won’t bait.
At night, Petir went to Wonosobo market and even sat in front of a bank office. As other attempts to lure him back to the cage was unsuccessful, the team agreed to shot him with tranquilizer under strict permit from central government.
“The center had released tigers before but only this time, there was some issue,” he said adding that they will conduct thorough research on captivity born animals before released. “Will it be possible to do another release or not, we will need to have further survey.” Eni Muslihah