Six Sumatran tigers die in reservation
Six Sumatran tigers die in reservation
JAKARTA (JP): Conservancy activists in Lampung sounded the
alarm on Saturday over the disclosure that six rare Sumatran
tigers had died in the Way Kambas forest reserve over the past
three years, Antara news agency reported.
Activists from the Way Kambas Care Network believe the tigers
were intentionally killed. Activist Verry Iwan said the killings
could continue unless immediate action was taken.
Experts estimate there are 500 tigers left in Indonesia, of
which 100 live outside conservation areas. Besides the Sumatran
tiger, there are also the Javan tigers, which were thought to be
extinct since 1938. However, a number of reports of sightings of
Javan tigers surfaced in June. The number of tigers worldwide is
currently estimated at around 5,000.
Verry said the deaths of the tigers in the national park could
be related to the activity of the Sumatran Tiger Project (STP)
there.
Information regarding the presence of the tigers was
dispatched through STP and "it lured poachers to kill and sell
the tigers", Verry said, admitting that his group still needed to
further examine the case.
He also questioned whether the project had achieved its stated
goals. The project is managed by the Bogor-based Indonesian
Safari Park in cooperation with foreign agencies, and funded by
international donors
Sumatran tigers in the 125,000-hectare national park have
previously been relatively undisturbed and the report of the six
deaths sparked concern, Verry said.
"Although the report revealed six deaths, there could have
been more," Verry said.
The STP research team announced several times dozens of
Sumatran tigers lived in the national park, using photographs
taken by automatic infrared cameras as evidence of their claim.
Similar results were obtained from research conducted in the
350,000-hectare Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in West
Lampung, Tanggamus and South Bengkulu.
It was also confirmed that in the forests of Sumatra, the
number of tigers was declining due to loss of habitat and the
threat of poachers.
The Way Kambas National Park also hosted a project to conserve
the Sumatran two-horned rhinoceros, called the Sumatran Rhino
Sanctuary project. The project, together with a plan to attract
ecotourists to the national park, was protested by environmental
activists. (05)