For three days now, five Indonesians have managed to hold on for life perched atop on one of the trees in Gunung Leuser National Park located on Sumatra Island. Not that they got lost in the wilderness. The men scrambled for refuge among the tree's top branches to risk being devoured by the giant Sumatran tigers down below.

On Thursday, on a seeming hunting expedition, instead of killing deer, the group of initially six men accidentally killed a cub tiger. The sounds of distress from the wounded and dying cub immediately caught the ears of the other tigers on the island, sending the giant cats to a killing revenge frenzy.

Sumatran tiger in the Melbourne Zoo

The tigers had been successful in killing and eating one of the men.

Good thing the five men, believed to be residents of Simpang Kiri in Aceh province, on the northern part of the island of Sumatra, have mobile phones, using them to alert nearby villagers of their predicament.

As of Saturday, a 30-member search team had entered the jungle looking for them, police chief Dicky Sondani said. The rescue team is believed to be able to locate the five men only by mid week.

According to villages who initially responded to the call of the five men, they found them indeed all atop a tree. But down below, four large Sumatran tigers remain at the base, encircling the tree, anytime ready to pounce on them to avenge the death of the cub tiger.

"If the tigers remain under the tree, we may have to shoot or sedate them to rescue the five people," Mr Sodani was quoted by the BBC.

Mr Sodani explained the group of men went into the park to search for rare incense wood.

"People keep entering the jungle to look for the wood because it's very expensive," the police chief said.

Park authorities might as well put up signs that read 'Enter at your own risk.'

"There are many tigers and elephants in Gunung Leuser jungle," Mr Sodani said. "It's worse this time because there are tigers waiting for the villagers."

And so the hunter becomes the hunted, the oppressor becomes the victim.