One full-grown female tiger and its three cubs were poisoned last Sunday by residents in the remote village of Jorong Durian Jantung in West Sumatra province, said Yadi Prariyadi, police chief of Pariaman district which covers the village.

He said the killing, using poison-laced cow carcasses, was done because the tigers had been eating livestock in recent weeks. He speculated that the tigers had moved close to the village due to their dwindling natural habitat.

"Foolishly, they did not seek advice from us or from the local forest rangers to handle the problem since they know that their village is located near to a state park," Prariyadi told AFP.

He said residents had admitted burying the tigers with their skins intact on Sunday but they were found without their hides when police unearthed them on Monday.

"We suspect some people took advantage of the situation by trying to make some money with the tigers' hides," the police chief said, pledging to bring the poachers to court.

Sumatran tigers are increasingly venturing into villages or plantations on the edge of forests since their natural habitat is rapidly shrinking. Activists say logging, both legal and illegal, is destroying forests.

Sumatran tigers are now estimated to number only about 300 or 400.

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