ANOTHER Sumatran tiger has been found dead in the second suspected poisoning of the critically endangered cats in less than a week, said Indonesian conservation officials today.

Authorities said in both cases, locals likely targeted the tigers for attacking livestock, underscoring the increasing human-animal conflict in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

Today, the conservation agency in South Aceh, Sumatra, said it found the carcass of a tigress near a farm.

“There weren’t any hunter traps or physical wounds, and we suspect (it) was poisoned,” said agency chief Hadi Sofyan, adding that an autopsy is being conducted.

Last week, the buried carcass of a male tiger was uncovered in North Sumatra’s Batang Gadis national park, with poisoning also the suspected cause of death.

Locals, including a village head, said the killing was orchestrated by farmers angry that the animal had killed their livestock, according to a park spokesman at the time.

Also today, a female tiger was relocated from a plantation in West Sumatra.

Conflicts between humans and animals in Indonesia often happen in areas where rainforests are being cleared to make way for oil palm plantations.

In the past year, Sumatra has also seen a spate of fatal tiger attacks on humans.

Indonesia is battling rampant poaching, which accounts for almost all Sumatran tiger deaths, according to Traffic, a global wildlife trade monitoring network.

Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 400 believed to remain in the wild.

Tiger parts are widely used in traditional medicine – particularly in China – despite overwhelming scientific evidence that they have no beneficial value. – AFP, June 29, 2020.