Indonesia’s last tiger
Fewer than 600 Sumatran tigers are estimated to remain in the wild. These magnificent, elusive big cats are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict.
As its name suggests, this tiger subspecies is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the sixth-largest island in the world. Kerinci Seblat National Park and the Ulu Masen-Leuser ecosystems are among the Sumatran tiger’s last remaining strongholds. They are global priority landscapes for tiger conservation.
This subspecies is no longer referred to as Panthera tigris sumatrae. In 2017 the IUCN Cat Specialist Group revised tiger taxonomy. Today, all the world’s tigers are divided into just two subspecies: Panthera tigris sondaica, comprising the Sumatran and (now extinct) Javan and Balinese populations, and Panthera tigris tigris, comprising the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese, South Chinese, Siberian and (extinct) Caspian tiger populations.
Fascinating facts about Sumatran tigers
Sumatran tiger portrait. © Edwin Giesbers / Nature Picture Library
Thin line
Sumatran tigers have the narrowest stripe pattern of all tigers, an adaptation that provides better camouflage in deep forest.
Sumatran tiger swimming. © Lynn M Stone / Nature Picture Library
Kitty paddle
Sumatran tigers are excellent swimmers, and have partially webbed toes to help them.
What do Sumatran tigers eat?
Sumatran tigers are formidable predators, at the top of the food chain. They can take down an animal as large as a gaur (the largest species of wild cattle), tapir or baby elephant, and will eat smaller prey such as monkeys, birds and fish, but wild pigs and deer make up the bulk of their diet.
Bearded pig. © Juan Pablo Moreiras / Fauna & Flora
Bearded pigs are a key prey item for Sumatran tigers.
Why are Sumatran tigers endangered?
As apex predators, Sumatran tigers have no natural enemies other than humans. One of the main threats to Sumatran tigers is poaching. Hunters use snare traps or shoot tigers for their skin, bones and canines. These products are in high demand overseas as status symbols and for use in Asian traditional medicine. A reduction in prey due to poaching of deer and other species, as well as habitat loss due to the expansion of oil palm, coffee and acacia plantations, and smallholder encroachment, also threaten these big cats.
How many Sumatran tigers are left in the wild?
Cryptically camouflaged and naturally wary of humans, tigers are never easy to see, let alone count, so tiger tracks and other signs – along with carefully placed camera traps – are often the only way to verify their presence. This is particularly true of Sumatran tigers, which are mainly confined to deep forest. The Indonesian government estimates that no more than 600 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild.
Tiger. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora
A wild Sumatran tiger recorded by one of our first camera traps in Kerinci Seblat National Park in 1996.
How can we help save the Sumatran tiger?
Fauna & Flora is working with local partners to protect Sumatran tigers in three landscapes:
- Ulu Masen-Leuser ecosystems in Aceh;
- Kerinci Seblat National Park in Jambi, West Sumatra, Bengkulu and South Sumatra provinces;
- Kampar Peninsula in Riau.
In total, these forests contain more than 60% of all wild Sumatran tigers. Success here is therefore critical for the long-term survival of tigers in Sumatra.
Kerinci Seblat National Park is one of the few protected areas in Southeast Asia where tiger encounter records have stabilised. Park-wide surveys in 2020 reported an increase in tiger numbers. This is due to the improved protection afforded by Fauna & Flora and partners through specialist Tiger Protection & Conservation Units which are led by national park staff. In 2022 these dedicated rangers were presented with IUCN-WCPA International Ranger of the Year awards by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Forestry, Dr Alue Dohong, in recognition of their contribution to tiger conservation.
To conserve tigers, Fauna & Flora applies its tried-and-tested best practice strategies through:
Supporting robust law enforcement
Fauna & Flora supports and works closely with national park staff, conservation agencies and law enforcement agencies. Between 2017-2020 we provided training for more than 300 dedicated forest rangers and law enforcement officers. These people conduct anti-poaching forest patrols, remove snares, deter forest crime while engaging positively with the community, and prosecute poachers and illegal wildlife traders.
This work is supported by a carefully cultivated network of local community supporters, whose information often plays a key role in guiding patrols to tackle active poaching and providing information that supports undercover investigations to identify tiger poachers and traders. The relevant authorities then support law enforcement agencies and prosecution of poachers and traders.
Human-tiger conflict mitigation
Tigers have large home ranges. Young tigers seeking to establish a territory, or older, post-reproductive tigers living in marginal habitat and driven out by dominant males, may find themselves competing for space with humans.
They are generally very shy and try to avoid people, but occasionally they wander out of the forest and into farmland. Typically, the tiger simply passes through and safely returns to the forest, but sometimes it will take a cow or a dog or – very rarely – attack a person.
To address local concerns and prevent retaliatory killing of real or perceived ‘problem tigers’, swift responses from conservation teams are needed. Collaborative rapid response units have been set up by conservation agencies, the national park, local government and Fauna & Flora. They react quickly to reports of human-tiger and other human-wildlife conflict. They have prevented unnecessary killing and capture of wild tigers and other species.
Occasionally, tigers may be caught in snare traps, set by poachers – or by farmers for crop-raiding wild pigs. In these cases, together with government authorities, we rapidly mobilise veterinary support to care for the tiger, with the primary aim of releasing a fully recovered animal back into the wild.
The Sumatran Tiger Protection Patrol Team. © Edy Susanto / Fauna & Flora
Members of the tiger patrol team record and remove a snare set by hunters in Sumatra's Kerinci Seblat National Park.
Population monitoring
To assess the impact of the conservation work in these tiger landscapes, we set remotely activated camera traps in the forest to monitor tiger population trends. This monitoring supports and informs wider tiger protection and conservation strategies.
Conservation coalition
In early 2022, to coincide with the latest Year of the Tiger, Fauna & Flora joined forces with five other leading conservation organisations that have worked collaboratively for decades to conserve the world’s tigers. The six-strong group, which comprises Fauna & Flora, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Panthera, TRAFFIC, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has united under a shared vision: Securing a Viable Future for the Tiger.
Checking camera traps. © Edy Susanto / Fauna & Flora
The tiger monitoring team checks the results of camera traps in Kerinci Seblat National Park.
“Since January 2016, 29 tiger poachers and traders have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed, and we have seen dramatic falls in poaching threat across the landscape, wildlife trade networks disrupted and the scene set for a return to population increase, with tiger occupancy surveys across Kerinci Seblat in 2019 and 2020 confirming that tiger numbers were rising.”
Debbie Martyr
Kerinci Tiger Programme, Technical Advisor
Save Sumatran tigers
These magnificent big cats are critically endangered.
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Donate nowSumatran tiger. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora