WHY ARE THEY
ENDANGERED?
- Illegal Poaching:
Poaching accounts for 78%
of estimated Sumatr an tiger
deaths, and at least 40 of
them are killed ever y year.
Tiger par ts are sold at high
pr ices in the black market.
- Loss of Habitat:
Deforestation causes the
fr agmentation of the
forests. As a result, the
tiger s are more exposed to
poacher s and contact with
local villager s. Forests are
cleared for the paper, pulp,
and palm oil industr ies.
The image shows the declining
forest cover in Sumatra from
1990-2005.
KEY FACTS Sumatran
- The aver age length and
weight of a male Sumatr an
tiger r anges from 220 ? 225
Tigers
cm (87 ? 89 inches) and 100
? 140 kilogr ams (220 ? 310
lb).
- The aver age lifespan of a
Sumatr an tiger is about 15
to 20 year s in the wild and
up to 25 year s in captivity.
- They have no specific
breeding per iods and the Abou t Su m atr an Tiger s
gestation per iod lasts about
The Sumatr an tiger s (Panthera tigris
103 days.
sumatrae) are the smallest tiger
subspecies that still exist today.
- They live in isolation
They live in the remaining patches
instead of packs.
of tropical r ain forests in the island
- Most common in their diet of Sumatr a
are small animals such as in Indonesia.
fish, monkeys, and fowls. Most of the
Sumatr an
- They have been enlisted as tiger s live in
cr itically endangered in the the Ker inci
IUCN Red List since 1996, Seblat
with only around 400 left National
today. Park, while the remaining live in
unprotected areas.
 ROLE I N THE ECOSYSTEM
- The Sumatr an tiger is an
umbrella species. It affects all
the other species in the
ecosystem
- The Sumatr an tiger acts as an
indicator of the well- being of
the forest.
WHY SHOULD WE SAVE
THEM?
- Protecting them also protects
the balance of the ecosystem.
- Prevents over gr azing as a
result of over population of
the tiger s' prey.
- Provides incentive to reduce
deforestation, which reduces
global war ming.
- They represent the
biodiver sity of the Sumatr an
r ain forest.
- Eco tour ism oppor tunities.
Over the past decade, it has cost more than US$20 million to fund tiger law enforcement activities, but
SAVING THE TIGERS IS WORTH IT!
Recov er y Pl an
Since tiger s breed quickly, then given enough habitat, prey, and protection, it
is possible to br ing their number s back up.
- RANGER PATROLS to remove
snare tr aps and ar rest
poacher s. Both routine patrols
and patrols based on
infor mation from local
infor mants are conducted.
- DISBANDING OF LOCAL
MARKETS by local officer s.
Tiger par ts that are found are
TH E FUTURE
confiscated.
- Although they are still
cr itically endangered, recent
- MONITORING the tiger s with
camer a tr ap data indicate a
camer a tr aps to study their
higher density of tiger s per
distr ibution and habitat use to
area.
better protect them.
- From 2000 to 2010, the
- MITIGATING THE PALM,
r anger patrols were able to
PULP, AND PAPER
remove a total of 4433 snare
INDUSTRIES to prevent
tr aps.
fur ther habitat loss as a result
of deforestation.