• Donate Now
  • Volunteer
  • Contact Us
Big Cat Rescue
  • Get Involved
  • Cub Facts
  • The Sanctuary Cats
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Videos
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
  • Get Involved
  • Cub Facts
  • The Sanctuary Cats
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Videos
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
Big Cat Rescue
No Result
View All Result
Home News World

Sumatran tiger faces extinction as forest habitat shrinks

Carole by BCR
March 3, 2009
in News World
0 0
0
0
SHARES
25
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Sumatran tiger faces extinction as forest habitat shrinks

From The Times
March 3, 2009

Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor

The Sumatran tiger is in danger of becoming the first major mammal to become extinct in the 21st century, as villagers on the Indonesian island fight a deadly war with the magnificent but ferocious predator.

At least four tigers, and nine people, have been killed in the past month alone, as the shrinking of Sumatra’s already depleted forests brings an increase in attacks on farmers, hunters and illegal loggers.

With fewer than 400 of the creatures estimated to be left in the wild, the Sumatran tiger is classified as critically endangered, the most vulnerable of all the six surviving tiger subspecies.

The fact that several victims of the recent attacks have been devoured by the tigers, which usually have little taste for human flesh, suggests how hungry and desperate they are becoming, as economic exploitation of their habitat confines them in ever smaller and more impoverished patches of jungle.

As the tiger attacks become more common, conservationists are hurrying to trap man-eating animals humanely, and release them away from human habitation, before terrified villagers hunt them down and kill them.

“As people encroach into tiger habitat, it’s creating a crisis situation and further threatening this critically endangered subspecies,” Ian Kosasih of the conservation group WWF, said. “In light of these killings, officials have got to make public safety a top concern and put a stop to illegal clearance of forests in Sumatra.”

According to the Indonesian government, between five and ten tigers are killed on average every year, but the scale of the slaughter in 2009 is on course to be higher than ever. A male tiger was speared to death a week ago after attacking a security guard on a palm oil plantation in the Indragiri Hilir area of Jambi province, the fourth animal to be killed this year.

Three young tigers were killed in February in neighbouring Riau province, after wandering into a village in search of food. Another Sumatran tiger was successfully trapped by conservationists.

But at least six people have been mauled to death and several more attacked and injured. In the grisliest attack, a 50-year-old man named Suyud was killed in his hut, which he shared with his 21-year-old son Imam Mujianto. The young man was consumed by the creature, which ate his brain, heart and liver, according to local reports.

“The shocking news that six people have been killed in less than one month is an extremely sad illustration of how bad the situation has become in Jambi,” said Didy Wurjanto, the head of the Jambi province Nature Conservancy Agency. “It’s a signal that we need to get serious about protecting natural forest and giving tigers their space.”

The number of tigers across the world has declined by 95 per cent in the past century, and three subspecies have become extinct, including the two others native to Indonesia – the Bali tiger and the Javan tiger, which was seen in the wild as late as the 1970s.

Poachers hunt them for their skins and other body parts which are a prized ingredient in traditional Asian medicines – the bodies of the animals killed in Sumatra in the past weeks quickly disappeared, and a tiger corpse is worth $3,200 (£2,200), a small fortune for an Indonesian villager.

But there is also less and less room for tigers, who require large areas in which to prowl, hunt and mate. Road building, farming, the timber industry and, particularly in Sumatra, the clearing of jungle to create lucrative palm oil plantations, is driving tigers into smaller islands of natural forest.

Sumatra’s lowland forests are shrinking at the rate of 2,700 sq km every year, an area larger than Luxemburg.

“You can’t expect tigers to become vegetarians,” Nurazman Nurdin of the Nature Conservation Agency told AP. “They need meat and humans trespassing their territory are relatively easy targets.”

Related Links :
Forests of the future
Grieving father denies son taunted killer tiger
Snared tiger defies poachers on three legs

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5831368.ece
http://bigcatrescue.org/


Tags: News World
Previous Post

Carole’s Letter re: Vanishing Species

Next Post

Tiger Shed Bobcat Box

Next Post
Tiger Shed Bobcat Box

Tiger Shed Bobcat Box

Leave a Reply

  • Default Comments (0)
  • Facebook Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Help Feed Big Cats

One of the best ways to help is through general donations that can be used however it is most needed at the time.To make a general donation just click the Donate Now button below.  This is the best way to give as it has the lowest credit card processing fees and is immediate help for the cats.

Give to Big Cat Rescue

If you prefer to donate via Pay Pal, please use this link: Pay Pal

Recent Articles

  • Summer Bobcat LIVE! June 26, 2022
  • Cat VS Dog…Fennel? June 22, 2022
  • Black Leopard Bath time! June 22, 2022

Save Big Cats

Donate to Big Cat Rescue

Sanctuary Cats

  • Jaguars
  • Leopards
  • Lions
  • Tigers
  • Bobcats
  • Canada Lynx
  • Cougars
  • Ocelots
  • Savannah Cats
  • Servals

More from Big Cats

  • Big Cat Rescue is Live 24/7 on Webcams
  • Rescue Missions
  • About Big Cat Rescue
  • Big Cat Rescue News
  • Reviews
  • Our Recent Work
  • Sanctuary FAQs
  • Big Cat TV
Summer Bobcat LIVE!

Summer Bobcat LIVE!

June 26, 2022
Cat VS Dog…Fennel?

Cat VS Dog…Fennel?

June 22, 2022
Black Leopard Bath time!

Black Leopard Bath time!

June 22, 2022
  • Donate Now
  • Volunteer
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2021 BigCatRescue.Org. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • 2018 Appeal
  • About BCR
  • About our Cookies
  • Account
  • BCR in the Media
  • Big Cat NFTS
  • Big Cat Rescue Caring for Cats and Ending the Trade
  • Big Cat Rescuers
  • Big Cat Times
  • Blog
  • Board of Directors
  • Browse Submissions
  • Connections
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Credentials
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Donate Crypto
  • Embed Link
  • Followers
  • Following
  • GET THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT CUB PETTING
  • Global Big Cat News
  • Intern Program
  • Join Us
    • Registration
  • Kids
  • Latest from Big Cat Rescue
  • Licensing
  • Login
  • Login
  • Logout
  • Logout
  • Malaya Bobcat
  • Map
  • Map of Big Cat Owners
  • Member Directory
  • Members
  • My Profile
    • Edit Profile
  • Netflix
  • News about Big Cats
  • News Gallery
  • News@BCR
  • Our Live Feeds
  • Password Reset
  • PressRoom
  • Privacy Policy
  • Register
  • Register
  • Register
    • Edit Your Profile
    • Update Billing Card
    • Welcome
    • Your Membership
  • Rescues
  • Search result
  • Series Archive – Default header
  • Shop
  • SnowLeopard
  • Social Stream
  • Staff
  • Submission Confirmed
  • Teachers
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Terms of Use
  • User
  • USFWS
  • Vets
  • Videos archive
  • Get Involved
    • Automatic
    • Sponsorships
    • Volunteer
      • AdvoCats
      • Click to Feed
      • Intern
    • Legacy
    • Roar! Speak Out for Big Cats
    • Ink
  • Finances
  • How We Started
  • Abuse Issues
    • Issues
      • Exhibitions
      • Private Ownership of Big Cats
      • Zoos
      • White Tigers
      • Circus
      • Fur
      • Trophy Hunting
      • Canned Hunting
      • Why Regulations Don’t Work
  • Our Evolution
  • Photos & Facts
  • Videos
  • Our Volunteers
  • Your Privacy
  • Donate
  • Site Map
  • Field Trips

© Copyright 2021 BigCatRescue.Org. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist