Tigers Trap Men In Tree, 5 Survive, One Man Killed

Tigers trapped five men in a tree and killed another after one of their baby cubs passed away.

The attack occurred in a national park on Sumatra island. According to police, the Sumatran tigers mauled one man to death while his friends watched from the safety of a tree.

The Sumatran tigers attacked the men after they accidentally killed a tiger cub.

As their friend was being mulled to death, the other men climbed a tree, which allowed the tigers to surround their location. The men used their mobile phones to call for help.

Rescue workers have warned that it could take up to three days for them to find the trapped men in the Gunung Leuser jungle. The national park covers 3,060 square miles along the border of North Sumatra and Aceh provinces.

After learning of the tigers trapping the men up a tree, officials sent 30 rescuers into the jungle to search for the group.

Police chief Dicky Sondani tells BBC News: “It might need two or three days to walk on foot to the depths of the jungle.”

Villagers attempted to rescue the men but quickly retreated after they witnessed at least four large Sumatran tigers circling around the tree.

Rescuers warn that they may have to shoot or sedate the Sumtran Tigers if they remain under the tree.

All six of the men who were attacked had entered the national park in search of rare incense wood.

Many people enter the park in the search of the rare and expensive incense wood, but they are often met face to face with tigers and elephants who live in the Gunung Leuser jungle.

The tigers trapped the men up a tree after they set deer traps for food but accidentally caught the tiger cub.

The Sumatran tiger cub did not immediately die, and its cries drew nearby tigers, who pounced on a 28-year-old man who soon after died.

Only about 350 Sumatran tigers are believed to exist around the world with most living on the small Indonesian island and inside Gunung Leuser national park.