Tigers terrorising Indonesian village: official

Indonesian authorities are setting off blasts and may use traps to stop tigers terrorising a forest village in West Sumatra province.

Indonesian authorities are setting off blasts and may use traps to stop tigers terrorising a forest village in West Sumatra province, an official said on Tuesday.

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Three endangered Sumatran tigers have been devouring livestock in the village of Halaban since last week, provincial conservation agency head Indra Arinal told AFP.

The agency is trying to scare off the animals by setting off explosions in gunpowder filled metal pipes, but may have to resort to trapping them, Arinal said.

"If the tigers keep creating conflict to the village, then we have to use traps and relocate them," Arinal said.

Such conflicts are a rising problem in Indonesia, an archipelago nation with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests, as human settlements encroach on natural habitats.

In January, two women were trampled to death by a pair of elephants in Aceh province after the animals entered an illegally cleared field from nearby jungle. A man was also reportedly killed by two tigers on Sumatra island last month.

There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, acccording to environmental group WWF.