Five men who have been clinging to the  branches of a tree for four days as snarling tigers prowled beneath them might  have to remain there until the middle of this week, rescuers said last  night.

The Sumatran tigers killed a six member of  the party and ate half of his remains before chasing his companions who clambered up the tree – hoping the tigers would not follow.

The tigers had hunted down the group after  they unwittingly killed a tiger cub, which fell into a trap they had set to  catch a deer for food.

A Sumatran tiger attacked and killed a sixth member of  the party after they accidentally killed a cub

Finding the cub dying from its injuries, the  pack of tigers gave chase after the men and caught one, named only as David. He  was quickly torn apart and half his body consumed.

The men, from Simpang Kiri village in Aceh,  northern Sumatra, had gone into the dense forest in search of agar wood, which  is very rare, expensive and used in the production of incense and aromatic  oils.

Just 1lb of agar wood can fetch up to £175,  resulting in villagers risking their lives to enter the jungles of the Gunung  Leuser National Park where tigers and dangerous elephants roam.

‘We can’t go rushing in to rescue the men in  the tree because of the remoteness and because of the tigers still being there  at the base of the tree,’ said Police Chief Dicky Sondani.

They are trapped up a tree in Gunung Leuser National  Park, north Sumatra, Indonesia

He told the Jakarta Globe that villagers  enter the jungle to look for the pricey wood but they were risking their lives  doing so.

‘The group were attacked by tigers on  Thursday after they caught and killed a tiger cub in a snare meant to catch a  deer.

‘Nearby tigers drawn to the scene of the  fatally injured cub pounced on the men and killed 28-year-old David as the five  others climbed a tree to safety.’

Resident of Simpang Kiri village learned of  the men’s fate because not only were they carrying mobile phones, they had also  managed to get a signal, enabling them to call for help.

But as rescuers from the village neared the  tree they saw David’s partially eaten remains and four large tigers – and  fled.

That left the men in the tree stranded and by  today they had managed to cling on in the branches for four days.

Just 1lb of agar wood can fetch up to £175, resulting in  villagers risking their lives to enter the jungles of the Gunung Leuser National  Park where tigers and dangerous elephants roam (stock image)

Police said they were worried that exhaustion  might cause one or more of them to fall, when they would be immediately  attacked.

There were also concerns that the tigers  might climb the tree to reach the men and while it is not known if the animals  have already tried, the men would be at their mercy if that did  happen.

But police said they had little choice but to  plan the rescue carefully and that would take some time. The tigers would have  to be shot with anaesthetising darts due to their endangered numbers.

Conservationists said they had no doubt that  the tigers chased the men seeking revenge for killing the cub.

More than 100 Sumatran tigers are believed to  roam the forests of the Gunung Leuser National Park.

But there are fears their numbers will  dramatically drop as the rainforest shrinks and palm oil plantations take their  place. Looking for food, tigers are more frequently entering villages and there  have been a number of attacks on humans.

Read more: DailyMail