> Sumatran tigers face their last days on Earth
> Mail & Guardian Online
> (South African online newspaper)
>
>
> 16 March 2004 10:39
>
>
> The Sumatran tiger will disappear in a few years unless poaching, trading
and
> the destruction of its forest habitat are halted immediately, a report
> published on Tuesday says.
>
> Fewer than 500 of the critically endangered species remain in the wild and
> more than 50 were killed annually in 1998-2002, the wildlife trade
monitoring
> network Traffic and the environmental group WWF say in the Trade of the
> Sumatran Tiger report.
>
> One of the authors, Chris Shepherd of Traffic, said on Monday that despite
> some local successes the situation is continuing to deteriorate.
>
> "Demand is the same as ever," he said. "If they don't step up enforcement
> efforts at all levels very soon they're going to lose these tigers."
>
> Indonesia lost its other two tiger subspecies, the Bali and Javan tigers,
in
> the 1930s and 1980s respectively.
>
> The Sumatran, the smallest of the tigers, is found only on the island from
> which it takes its name.
>
> The report says that unless the authorities enforce the existing laws and
> intensify conservation programmes the species will become extinct.
>
> The dangers are human: poaching, encouraged by a continuing demand, to
make
> Chinese traditional remedies, and for the hides; destruction of the
forests
> where they live; hunting their prey; and the conflict when tigers enter
> villages and farms and kill people and livestock, leading to them being
> captured or killed in turn.
>
> "The attitude of consumers has to change if tigers are going to be saved,"
> Shepherd said.
>
> Much of the hunting is in national parks, many of which are reported to be
> poorly protected. An 81-year-old hunter quoted in the report said the
> competition to catch tigers had increased significantly in recent years.
>
> "Now it is much tougher to catch tigers, because there are so many more
men
> hunting tigers than ever before," he is reported saying. His annual haul
> dropped from 14 tigers in 1989 to two in 2002.
>
> A spokesperson for the Indonesian forestry department declined to comment
on
> the report because he had not seen it, but added: "I can say that we are
> trying our best.
>
> "The problem is we don't have enough resources and saving tigers involves
> many government agencies, so it is very difficult to coordinate."
>
> One of the few success stories is in Kerinci Seblat national park, which
> straddles four central provinces.
>
> Debbie Martyr, a Briton, who is the manager of an anti-poaching programme
in
> the park, said that in one area there has been no poaching since a dealer
was
> arrested in September 2002.
>
> "What we're trying to do is establish no-go zones where the poachers and
> dealers know it's dangerous to operate, and build on that," she said.
>
> The extent of the problem was demonstrated, she said, by the fact that the
> arrested dealer was reported not to have spent a day in prison since he
was
> detained.
>
> "The judiciary are still a long way from giving their full support".
>
> Despite the rapidly declining population, the report says that the slide
to
> extinction can be reversed. "Tigers are a pretty amazing animal," Shepherd
> said. "They can spring back and pretty quickly, so we're not past the
point
> of no return." - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
>
> --