Bringing tigers back from the brink<\/p>\n
P.J. Leo, The Jakarta Post, Ciawi, Bogor<\/p>\n
An abundance of different species of wildlife are commonly found
\nwithin ecosystems, and these can be very important to humans,
\neven though this may not be immediately evident. In our everyday
\nlife, we rarely stop to think about our great dependence on our
\nenvironment, which is chiefly made up of wildlife, and of the
\ncritical need to conserve these environments or ecosystems.<\/p>\n
Regarding conservation, 44-year-old Ligaya Ita Tumbelaka, a
\nmember of the reproduction faculty of the School of Veterinary
\nMedicine at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), has always
\nbeen curious as to why we must be concerned with the survival of
\nwildlife, especially while our nation is facing so many other
\ndifficulties.<\/p>\n
\"It saddens me to see that many of us have so little knowledge
\nabout wildlife and do not feel concerned about its survival,\"
\nsaid Ligaya, who graduated from IPB's School of Veterinary
\nMedicine in 1983.<\/p>\n
\"Many people think that wildlife is somehow harmful. In fact,
\nit is humans who have done a lot of harm to wildlife. Trees in
\nthe forest are felled and wildlife is killed. Whilst it is true
\nthat life goes on, something is missing,\" she added.<\/p>\n
An energetic woman, Ligaya, a Manadonese, always keeps herself
\nbusy, often with outdoor activities. Whenever she stops for a
\nmoment's rest, she can only think of the many tasks ahead of her.
\nAs a release from her daily fatigue, she listens to Manadonese
\nsongs, such as Poco-Poco.<\/p>\n
A cheerful woman, Ligaya, despite her tight schedule teaching
\nand doing research at IPB, is the one and only studbook keeper
\nfor Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) at the Indonesian
\nSafari Park, a job she has been doing since 1992.<\/p>\n
As the studbook keeper she carefully records the genealogy of
\nthe tigers and arranges their mating. In this way, it is expected
\nthat Sumatran tigers -- now very rare -- will avoid extinction.<\/p>\n
The studbook is a system for recording the genealogy of a
\nparticular animal species. This system of recording, which covers
\ndata of all these animals in zoos, safari parks or in private
\npossession, is essential for the success of their own captive
\nbreeding program.<\/p>\n
The genealogical records of Sumatran tigers kept by Ligaya
\nenables close monitoring of the \"genetic spread\" of these
\nanimals. According to her records, there are 77 Sumatran tigers
\nliving outside their original habitat, whereas there are about
\n400 to 650 of these tigers in total, and 28 are kept at the
\nIndonesian Safari Park.<\/p>\n
A studbook enables as much information as possible to be
\ncollected about each individual Sumatran tiger. Each tiger is
\ngiven a provisional\/international studbook number to uniquely
\nidentify it, along with its given name, sex, mother's name,
\nbirthplace or place of origin, and estimated age (if taken from
\nthe wild).<\/p>\n
All this information is essential to the wildlife manager in
\nconducting captive breeding of these tigers, ensuring that
\nhealthy cubs are born.<\/p>\n
\"Her profession is unique, and indeed not many people can do
\nthis kind of work. Ligaya is brave and persistent and always
\nwants to know more. She knows what the Indonesian Safari Park
\nwants so she is always promoting the park's mission to carry out
\ncaptive breeding of Sumatran tigers, a species on the brink of
\nextinction,\" said Jansen Manansang, the park's director.<\/p>\n
Born in Tangkuney, North Sulawesi, Ligaya is the fourth of
\nnine children born to Lendy Roland Tumbelaka and Sophia Maria
\nTheresia Pangalila-Tumbelaka. She is also secretary-general of
\nFOKSI (the Indonesian Wildlife Conservation Forum), an
\norganization for wildlife conservation.<\/p>\n
In 1990, Ligaya earned her Master of Science degree in
\nreproductive biology and endocrinology from the Department of
\nAnimal Science, Oregon State University, in the United States and
\ntwo years later, she completed specialized education in primate
\nhealth and conservation at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine,
\nWake Forest University, also in the U.S.<\/p>\n
When she returned from the United States in 1992, the head of
\nIPB's primate study center, Dondin Sayuthi, now director of IPB
\nHospital, assigned Ligaya to the Indonesian Safari Park to
\nrepresent IPB following the signing of a cooperation agreement
\nbetween IPB and the park. Under this agreement, IPB students come
\nto the park to study and observe the animals.<\/p>\n
\"The establishment of the Indonesian Safari Park as a
\nconservation site is highly beneficial to IPB. It serves as a
\nlarge laboratory for us at the schools of Animal Husbandry,
\nForestry and Veterinary Medicine, for example,\" Ligaya noted. \"We
\ncan directly observe the animals that we are studying,\" she
\nadded.<\/p>\n
In 1997, she then went on to earn her doctorate in Veterinary
\nScience from the School of Veterinary Medicine at IPB.<\/p>\n
In a seminar on primatology held in Yogyakarta in 2000, Ligaya
\ngot acquainted with Michael Padmanaba, known as Mas Nobo, a young
\nman from that city.<\/p>\n
Although at first she did not pay him much attention, their
\nrelationship blossomed when one of her friends told her that this
\nyoung man had really fallen for her. In 2001 Ligaya and Michael
\ngot married.<\/p>\n
Their marriage has not curtailed her work at all, and she
\nstill feels she has much more to do. Her husband gives her the
\nsupport she needs to continue her important mission.<\/p>",
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