A tiger hunt in Java
R.A. Kerkhoven, a European planter resident in the Sinagar district of the Preanger region, published this account in 1883 describing his systematic use of a plant-based poison (wali kambing, Sarcolobus spanoghei) to eliminate tigers and wild dogs preying on his livestock, supplemented by a vivid narrative letter from his brother E.J. Kerkhoven recounting a specific tiger hunt on 2 February 1875. The article serves both as a practical guide to tiger control in the densely forested ravines of western Java and as a window into the daily hazards faced by colonial planters.
Summary
The article addresses the persistent problem of tiger, panther, and wild dog predation on cattle, horses, and even people in the thinly populated and heavily forested districts of Java. Kerkhoven documents his personal losses—fourteen horses and karbouws (buffaloes) in his first four years of residence—and explains how he adopted the use of wali kambing, a climbing plant of the Asclepiadaceae family found in low marshy coastal regions, as a lethal bait. The poison is prepared from the innermost bark of the stem, ground to a yellowish-brown powder, and applied to the carcase of an animal recently killed by a tiger, which the tiger will return to feed upon.
The article situates this method within a broader pharmacological context, citing Filet’s Plantkundig Woordenboek (1876), Rigg’s Sundanese Dictionary (1865), and a chemical analysis by Boscha in the Maandblad voor Natuurwetenschappen which identified the active alkaloid as coniine—the same compound responsible for the toxicity of European hemlock. Kerkhoven contrasts the Javanese tracking method, which relies on footprints, vomit, and trained dogs in steep, densely overgrown ravines, with the elephant-backed howdah hunts familiar from Bengal, arguing that the latter is impractical in the Preanger terrain.
The appended letter from E.J. Kerkhoven provides a literary set-piece: a rainy-morning hunt in which fourteen men track a poisoned tiger through the ravine of the Kali Tji Enggang, culminating in a volley of ten shots and a final “settler” through the head. The tiger’s skin is carried home in triumphal procession through the village, accompanied by angklong players, and the narrative closes with the domestic detail that the hide is destined as a rug for the writer’s absent wife.
Key Findings
- In the first four years of residence at Sinagar, Kerkhoven lost 14 horses and karbouws to tigers and wild dogs before adopting the wali kambing method (p. 269).
- Since the beginning of 1863, R.A. Kerkhoven and his hunters destroyed 40 royal tigers and panthers plus a large number of wild dogs; his brother at Ardjasari killed 2 panthers and 6 royal tigers using the same poison (p. 275).
- The active poisonous constituent of Sarcolobus spanoghei was identified by Boscha as coniine, the alkaloid of Conium maculatum (hemlock) (p. 271).
- A single application for a buffalo required “a beer glass three-fourths filled” of the powdered bark; considerably less was needed for a sheep or goat (p. 272).
- The specific hunt narrated in the letter took place on 2 February 1875; the tiger was killed by a total of ten shots from multiple hunters, followed by a final shot through the head at a range of approximately 12 paces (pp. 279–280).
- A buffalo purchased for ƒ52 was among those lost to tigers in the weeks preceding the narrated hunt (p. 280).
Conclusion
Kerkhoven’s definitive takeaway is that wali kambing is a highly effective and practical means of tiger control in the Preanger, provided the planter has the time and physical stamina to track the poisoned animal through difficult terrain. The method is presented not as a curiosity but as a proven, repeatable technique that has reduced livestock losses over more than a decade of use.
Context
- The author was a European coffee planter in the Sinagar district (below Soekaboemi, Preanger), writing from a position of direct economic interest in protecting his livestock and estate.
- The article draws on local Sundanese ethnobotanical knowledge (Rigg’s dictionary, native tracking practices) and Dutch colonial scientific literature (Filet, Boscha, Bernlot Moens), reflecting the hybrid epistemic world of late nineteenth-century Dutch East Indies plantation society.