Five Indonesian men have been trapped in a tree while tigers circle below in the Gunung Leuser national park on Sumatra island. According to police, a sixth man was mauled to death. The men were in search of a rare incense wood and whilst setting deer traps to trap food they accidentally caught a tiger cub.

The ordeal began after the men had accidentally killed the tiger cub. To escape being attacked, the men climbed up a tree. Using one of their cellphones they managed to contact villagers who were close by.

A search and rescue could take up to three days according to officials. This is due to the fact that the men are stranded in the Gunung Leuser jungle which covers 7,930 square kilometres. A search team entered the jungle on Saturday and police chief Dicky Sondani said:

It might need two or three days to walk on foot to the depths of the jungle.

There have been attempts to rescue the men by villagers, but their efforts were halted when they saw four Sumatran tigers at the base of the tree. Sondani said:

If the tigers remain under the tree, we may have to shoot or sedate them to rescue the five people.

People keep entering the jungle to look for the wood because it’s very expensive.

But that’s the risk: there are many tigers and elephants in Gunung Leuser jungle.

[Source: BBC News]