Bringing tigers back from the brink

Bringing tigers back from the brink

P.J. Leo, The Jakarta Post, Ciawi, Bogor

An abundance of different species of wildlife are commonly found within ecosystems, and these can be very important to humans, even though this may not be immediately evident. In our everyday life, we rarely stop to think about our great dependence on our environment, which is chiefly made up of wildlife, and of the critical need to conserve these environments or ecosystems.

Regarding conservation, 44-year-old Ligaya Ita Tumbelaka, a member of the reproduction faculty of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), has always been curious as to why we must be concerned with the survival of wildlife, especially while our nation is facing so many other difficulties.

"It saddens me to see that many of us have so little knowledge about wildlife and do not feel concerned about its survival," said Ligaya, who graduated from IPB's School of Veterinary Medicine in 1983.

"Many people think that wildlife is somehow harmful. In fact, it is humans who have done a lot of harm to wildlife. Trees in the forest are felled and wildlife is killed. Whilst it is true that life goes on, something is missing," she added.

An energetic woman, Ligaya, a Manadonese, always keeps herself busy, often with outdoor activities. Whenever she stops for a moment's rest, she can only think of the many tasks ahead of her. As a release from her daily fatigue, she listens to Manadonese songs, such as Poco-Poco.

A cheerful woman, Ligaya, despite her tight schedule teaching and doing research at IPB, is the one and only studbook keeper for Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) at the Indonesian Safari Park, a job she has been doing since 1992.

As the studbook keeper she carefully records the genealogy of the tigers and arranges their mating. In this way, it is expected that Sumatran tigers -- now very rare -- will avoid extinction.

The studbook is a system for recording the genealogy of a particular animal species. This system of recording, which covers data of all these animals in zoos, safari parks or in private possession, is essential for the success of their own captive breeding program.

The genealogical records of Sumatran tigers kept by Ligaya enables close monitoring of the "genetic spread" of these animals. According to her records, there are 77 Sumatran tigers living outside their original habitat, whereas there are about 400 to 650 of these tigers in total, and 28 are kept at the Indonesian Safari Park.

A studbook enables as much information as possible to be collected about each individual Sumatran tiger. Each tiger is given a provisional/international studbook number to uniquely identify it, along with its given name, sex, mother's name, birthplace or place of origin, and estimated age (if taken from the wild).

All this information is essential to the wildlife manager in conducting captive breeding of these tigers, ensuring that healthy cubs are born.

"Her profession is unique, and indeed not many people can do this kind of work. Ligaya is brave and persistent and always wants to know more. She knows what the Indonesian Safari Park wants so she is always promoting the park's mission to carry out captive breeding of Sumatran tigers, a species on the brink of extinction," said Jansen Manansang, the park's director.

Born in Tangkuney, North Sulawesi, Ligaya is the fourth of nine children born to Lendy Roland Tumbelaka and Sophia Maria Theresia Pangalila-Tumbelaka. She is also secretary-general of FOKSI (the Indonesian Wildlife Conservation Forum), an organization for wildlife conservation.

In 1990, Ligaya earned her Master of Science degree in reproductive biology and endocrinology from the Department of Animal Science, Oregon State University, in the United States and two years later, she completed specialized education in primate health and conservation at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, also in the U.S.

When she returned from the United States in 1992, the head of IPB's primate study center, Dondin Sayuthi, now director of IPB Hospital, assigned Ligaya to the Indonesian Safari Park to represent IPB following the signing of a cooperation agreement between IPB and the park. Under this agreement, IPB students come to the park to study and observe the animals.

"The establishment of the Indonesian Safari Park as a conservation site is highly beneficial to IPB. It serves as a large laboratory for us at the schools of Animal Husbandry, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, for example," Ligaya noted. "We can directly observe the animals that we are studying," she added.

In 1997, she then went on to earn her doctorate in Veterinary Science from the School of Veterinary Medicine at IPB.

In a seminar on primatology held in Yogyakarta in 2000, Ligaya got acquainted with Michael Padmanaba, known as Mas Nobo, a young man from that city.

Although at first she did not pay him much attention, their relationship blossomed when one of her friends told her that this young man had really fallen for her. In 2001 Ligaya and Michael got married.

Their marriage has not curtailed her work at all, and she still feels she has much more to do. Her husband gives her the support she needs to continue her important mission.