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CHARITY BLOG
TIGER FOCUS NO.2: INDONESIA (SUMATRAN TIGER)
An in-depth look at the status and threats facing the Sumatran tiger
Indonesia, home of the Sumatran tigers, has an estimated population of less than 400 tigers, a significant decline from an estimated 1,000 in 1978.
The island of Sumatra is the only remaining tiger stronghold in Indonesia, where they co-exist with many other large and endangered species including Asian elephants, orangutans and rhinos.
But this wildlife, and even the islands people, are under threat due to rapid deforestation.
In 2008, the Indonesian government & World Wildlife Fund (WWF) pledged their commitment to protect the remaining forests and critical ecosystems of Sumatra.
“This agreement commits all the Governors of Sumatra’s ten provinces, along with the Indonesian Ministries of Forestry, Environment, Interior and Public Works, to restore critical ecosystems in Sumatra and protect areas with high conservation values,” said Hermien Roosita, Deputy Minister of Environment.
A recent report Saving Tigers Now: A Prognosis for Tigers in Eight Priority Landscapes by The Wildlife Conservation Society, gives hope for the survival of the species as it categorises the remaining Sumatran forests to be “too rugged for human agriculture” and still having a vast scope for wild tiger population.
However, considering the dwindling numbers, even in the 12 Tiger Conservation Landscapes, it’s hard to ignore a 2004 TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network) report Nowhere To Hide: The Trade In Sumatran Tiger that stated Indonesia to be the biggest market for ‘open’ tiger trading.
WWF believes that at least 40 Sumatran tigers are poached every year in addition to suffering habitat loss due to development, palm oil production and illegal timber harvesting, leading to serious doubts as to their long-term survival.
SUMATRAN TIGER FACTS
Sumatran tigers are smallest of all sub species.
They can be up to 250 centimetres.
Their weight differs according to sex with males weighing between 100-140 kg and females weighing from 75-110 kg.
CONSERVATION ACTION REQUIRED
Indonesia has seen one of the fastest loss of forest cover in recent decades and its time the government starts owning up to the responsibility and protecting it’s forests and wildlife.
The government’s recent scheme, to let rich private owners to ‘rent’ Sumatran tigers, undermines it’s commitment to the cause of saving Sumatran landscape and Wildlife. And further still, it has no prove of actually being an effective conservation tool.
This is best summed up by Dian Kosasih of WWF Indonesia, “Putting tigers into a small area is not the answer to long term conservation. The WWF has always believed that conserving species in the wild is what we have to pursue.”
by Pallavi Malhotra
