July 7, 2013

5 men trapped in a tree by Sumatran tigers — and it might take days to find the tree in the jungle.

"The group was attacked on Thursday after they accidentally killed a tiger cub. One man died while the others managed to flee up some branches. The survivors alerted nearby villagers using mobile phones."
Villagers had tried to rescue the men on Thursday but retreated when they saw at least four large Sumatran tigers circling around the base of the tree....

The six men, all from Simpang Kiri village in Aceh Tamiang district, had ventured into the national park in search of rare incense wood.

"People keep entering the jungle to look for the wood because it's very expensive," the police chief said. "But that's the risk: there are many tigers and elephants in Gunung Leuser jungle."
Wikipedia says: "The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is a rare tiger subspecies that inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was classified as critically endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population was estimated at 441 to 679 individuals...The Sumatran tiger is the only surviving member of the Sunda Islands group of tigers that included the now extinct Bali tiger and Javan tiger."

What is the "rare incense wood"? The article doesn't say, but I suspect it's agarwood, about which Wikipedia says: "agarwood, also known as oud, oodh or agar, is a dark resinous heartwood that forms in Aquilaria and Gyrinops trees... when they become infected with a type of mould. Prior to infection, the heartwood is relatively light and pale coloured; however, as the infection progresses, the tree produces a dark aromatic resin in response to the attack, which results in a very dense, dark, resin embedded heartwood...."

UPDATE: Rescued after 5 days in the tree.

1 comment:

Ann Althouse said...

"Prior to infection, the heartwood is relatively light and pale colored..."

This is good material for metaphor.