Indonesian police nab five poachers of rare Sumatran tigers

The Indonesian police and officials of the Environment and Forestry Ministry have apprehended five people who illegally hunted the endangered Sumatran tigers, a senior official of the ministry said on Sunday.

Three out of the five alleged poachers were arrested on Saturday in Pelalawan district, Riau province on Sumatra island and the rest were detained in Pangkalan Lesung sub-district of the same district, said Sustyo Iriyono, the ministry's director for forest preservation and security affairs, Xinhua news agency reported.

Four fetuses of the Sumatran tigers were found in plastic jars and a piece of adult tiger hide was confiscated during the crackdown, according to the director.

Under the Indonesian law, the alleged poachers could face a five-year jail term if they were convicted and pay a fine.

In July, the Indonesian police arrested two people for illegally trading hides of Sumatran tiger in Jambi province on Sumatra Island and pursued a group of suspects implicating in the prohibited activities.

The Sumatran tiger is the smallest of the tiger sub-species with the length of 2.7 meters and weight up to 114 kilograms.

The species was classified critically endangered in 2008 as its population was estimated at only 441 to 679.