Three Sumatran tigers have been found dead after being caught in sling snares in a private oil palm plantation in Indonesia's Aceh province, the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency confirmed.
Sumatran tigers are found only on the Sumatra island and are listed as critically endangered in the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Animals, with just around 400-600 specimens believed to be surviving in the island.
The agency's head Agus Arianto on Monday said the tiger carcasses were found on Sunday by a member of a non-governmental organisation, who thought that the carnivores had died for days, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We strongly condemn this incident. An investigation is underway," Arianto told Xinhua.
A medical team has taken the body parts of the tigers for necropsy, while the police are conducting a field investigation to uncover other factors causing the deaths.
A survey findings from February 2020-January 2021 show that there are two major threats of local hunting to Sumatran tigers, with the evidence of 6 snares found in the vicinity. The study also found a a direct relationship that is proportional to the decrease in the number of Sumatran tigers here.
