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Peering from a filthy cage, a seven-year-old Sumatran tiger roars angrily as a veterinarian sprays liquid antibiotic on its scratched face.

The 110-kilogram tiger was captured in the province of Riau in September after it was believed to have killed five people.

It is one of the few remaining Sumatran tigers, whose numbers have declined sharply in the past decade and which conservationists fear may become extinct in the next.

"We brought him here after a long negotiation with locals. They wanted to kill it as revenge, but we can't allow another killing of a Sumatran tiger," said Yohanna Trihastuti, a veterinarian from the private Safari Park in Cisarua, 120 kilometres west of Jakarta,

In August, angry Riau residents launched a big search for the man-eater. They caught a very young tiger and killed it, although Sumatran tigers are one of the few species protected under Indonesian conservation laws.

But they apparently caught the wrong cat, as another man was found dead from a tiger attack two weeks later. The conservation office then sought help from the Safari Park team to capture the real killer.

Ms. Trihastuti said the captured tiger will be kept in the park's quarantine centre for two months before being moved to its Sumatran tiger-breeding centre.

"We hope in the future he can become a stud for our breeding centre," she said.

The Safari Park has cared for 30 Sumatran tigers in its breeding centre since it was established in 1992. About 12 of the tigers were born in the centre.

The statistics for Sumatran tigers are disturbing: About 400 remained in the wild in 1992 and an average of 33 are killed each year, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

With a shrinking habitat -- most Sumatran forests have been converted into palm-oil plantations -- and rampant poaching for body parts and fur, tiger numbers are sure to be lower now, experts say.

"A shrinking habitat because of rapid human population growth, forest being cleared for plantations and illegal hunting are the reasons for the sharp decline," said Jansen Manansang, the park's managing director, who is also a co-ordinator for the Sumatran Tiger Conservation Project.

"They come out of the jungle, as they have nothing to eat, and approach the village, disturbing the livestock or attacking people. If they are caught by villagers, they usually kill the tigers. We don't want that to happen. Maybe we can still save them, regardless of age, and put them in a captive breeding program to save their kind."

The Sumatran cat could be Indonesia's last species of tiger.

The Balinese tiger became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century and the Javan tiger has also been officially declared extinct, although several park rangers have reported unconfirmed sightings recently.

The Safari Park's Sumatran-tiger-conservation program keeps stud books and a genome resource bank and employs a tiger-rescue team that works to save tigers from villagers and poachers.

"Poachers kill tigers for their bones, which are used for medicine, but they also target the fur," Mr. Manansang said, adding that tigers are also captured alive to be sold illegally.

A stuffed Sumatran tiger carries a large price tag on the black market -- about $2,500 (U.S.). Pieces of the magnificent creature are also for sale: tiger penises as aphrodisiacs; ground-up bones, claws and teeth for traditional Chinese remedies.

"It's sad to say, but the illegal trade is rampant here," said the WWF's Chairul Saleh. "We may not be able to hear the roar of a Sumatran tiger, or see it, in the next seven to 12 years if no preventive measures are taken."

The total value of Indonesia's illegal animal trade is unknown, but animal activists say hundreds of creatures are sold each month despite protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.

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