In search of 'extinct' Javan tiger<\/p>\n
Bambang M., Contributor, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
On arrival at small cave in Sumber Wungu village, about 70
\nkilometers east of Yogyakarta, Didik Raharyono hurried into the
\ncave that locals claimed was home to a Javan tiger.<\/p>\n
Armed with a video camera, Didik carefully looked for any
\nsigns that suggest existence of tiger: feces, footprints, hair
\nand leftovers - anything. Meanwhile, his wife, Dewi
\nKurnianingsih, interviewed a peasant who claimed he had seen a
\ntiger in the area.<\/p>\n
After two hours, Didik came out with fecal matter and pieces
\nof bones he believed were good signs that proved the locals'
\nclaim. Some pieces of the bones resembled human fingers and ribs.<\/p>\n
\"I am curious about the villagers' claim that Javan tigers
\nlive here,\" says Didik, a 1998 graduate of Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity's school of biology.<\/p>\n
At first, he wanted to install a trap camera near the cave's
\nentrance to satisfy his curiosity but then he thought the
\nexpensive equipment could be stolen if he did.<\/p>\n
Didik is obsessed with finding hard evidence to prove his
\nbelief that the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) still
\nexists although it was officially declared extinct in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
His ambition has taken him into forests and outlying caves in
\nmany parts of Java.<\/p>\n
The official pronouncement was confirmed by the WWF (then the
\nWorld Wildlife Fund, now called the Worldwide Fund for Nature)
\nafter it completed its research in Meru Betiri National Park,
\nEast Java, in 1994.<\/p>\n
Didik remains in great doubt about all the conclusions that
\nthe beast is extinct and is determined to conduct his own
\nresearch.<\/p>\n
He became interested in the research after Matalabiogama,
\nGadjah Mada University's biology students club for nature -- where
\nDidik also belonged -- conducted research with the Meru Betiri
\nNational Park in 1997.<\/p>\n
Then he was excited to find signs which he claimed showed that
\nthe tiger may still exist, three years after WWF completed its
\nsurvey there.<\/p>\n
The club raised the matter in 1998 in a national seminar at
\nGadjah Mada. One of its recommendations was that more surveys
\nshould be conducted in Meru Betiri National Park.<\/p>\n
\"That was when I convinced myself that I should do my own
\nsurvey on the Javan tiger,\" said Didik, who was born in Pati,
\nCentral Java, on Jan. 28, 1970.<\/p>\n
Yayasan Kappala Indonesia, an environmental NGO that Didik is
\naffiliated with, established its own research team and Didik was
\nnamed chairman.<\/p>\n
\"One of this team's purposes is to transfer the tiger tracking
\nskill to local people,\" Didik said.<\/p>\n
His curiosity was also driven by the fact that the government
\nignored local people's apparent sighting of the tiger. Some
\npeople living near forests told him that they still poached the
\nanimal even after it was declared extinct.<\/p>\n
\"They (the villagers) are not stupid because they know the
\nanimal still exists. Besides, they can precisely describe the
\nJavan tiger's features.\"<\/p>\n
To make sure that what the villagers saw were the real thing,
\nDidik asks specific questions about the animal. To his surprise,
\nthe self-proclaimed poachers have also given him tiger parts as
\n\"gifts\": teeth, skin or whiskers of the tigers they had killed
\nsome months or years ago. He collects all the parts as material
\nevidence to prove his thesis.<\/p>\n
When he met with the poachers, Didik also tries to \"lecture\"
\nthem about the need for conservation.<\/p>\n
His biggest problem in carrying out the work is money.
\n\"Because the tiger has been officially declared extinct, it is
\ndifficult to get sponsors. In 1998, Meru Betiri National Park
\nrefused The Singapore Zoo's offer of funding to install trap
\ncameras in the forest, believing that it would be a useless
\nproject.<\/p>\n
Didik's research team, meanwhile, cannot do much without funds
\nfrom the sponsors of funding institutions. But Didik won't give
\nup. He has established networking with other environmentalist
\ngroups which can give him information about the tiger. Often, he
\nwill go on his own account.<\/p>\n
After five years, Didik has collected strong evidence to
\nstrengthen his belief that the tiger still exists in Java.<\/p>\n
The evidence in his collection are bits of hair, skin,
\nfootprints, teeth, feces and eyewitnesses' accounts. He has
\nwritten and co-authored a number of scientific reports about
\nforests in Java.<\/p>\n
His collection of tiger's hair has been made into a
\ndissertation about the Javan tiger by Erwin Wilianto, a student
\nof biology at Gadjah Mada. His theory that the hair belonged to
\nJavan tiger has been confirmed by the Indonesian Institute of
\nSciences (LIPI).<\/p>\n
In fact Didik once sighted a Javan tiger in Meru Betiri
\nNational Park when he and his research team was there for a 14-
\nday survey.<\/p>\n
He says the tiger appeared at the bush thanks to the help of a
\nlocal shaman but before he managed to photograph it, the beast
\nran away after the two frightened rangers that accompanied the
\nteam also ran scared.<\/p>\n
\"As we were inside the tent at night, we heard the tiger roar
\nat about 2 a.m. That was the most memorable experience of all our
\nexpeditions,\" he recalls.<\/p>\n
He has not set a deadline for proving this thesis. \"I will not
\nset a time limit for myself,\" he says.<\/p>\n
His spirit to track down the Javan tiger got a boost from
\nDewi, the woman he married two years ago. She will go with him
\nwherever he likes to quench his curiosity about the tiger.<\/p>\n
\"He says he will make me a live bait to fool the tiger to come
\nout,\" she quips.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/in-search-of-extinct-javan-tiger-1447893297",
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