Sumatran Tiger

Name: Sumatran Tiger
Conservation Status: Critically Endangered
Population Estimate: 400 tigers
Range: Island of Sumatra
Threats: Habitat Loss / Poaching / Illegal Wildlife Trade / Human Tiger Conflict

The Sumatran tiger is the smallest species of all tigers and are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra off the Malaysian Peninsula. In 2021 it is estimated that only between 400 of these tigers remain in the wild. The actual number may be fewer than 400. They are listed as a Critically Endangered species on the IUCN Red List which says their wild population is decreasing.

In 1978, one tiger census reported around 1,000 Sumatran tigers remained in the wild. That means the population of these tigers has been cut in half over the last 60 years.

Description and Habitat:

The Sumatran tiger is only found on the island of Sumatra and its habitat ranges from lowland forest to mountain forest and includes evergreen, swamp, and tropical rain forests. Their prey primarily consists of wild pigs and sambar deer, tapir, monkeys, birds, and fish.

Threats:

The Sumatran tiger faces a number of threats to its survival including poaching, habitat loss, prey depletion and human-tiger conflict. Huge agriculture growth in Sumatra has also resulted in the tiger’s habitat being fragmented.

Tigers are poached mainly for their body parts. China and Viet Nam are considered the largest consumers of products containing tiger parts. Bones, teeth, and claws are prized for use in Traditional Chinese (Asia) medicine while the demand for pelts is also high.

Sumatran tigers also face the ongoing threat of habitat loss. Sumatra has had huge agricultural growth over the last years and the result of this is a fragmentation of the tiger’s habitat. Most of the remaining Sumatran tigers now found in national parks and game reserves.

The few Sumatran tigers that remain outside these protected areas are especially vulnerable to poaching. Human-tiger conflict has become part of daily existence outside the protected area where tiger habitat has been disrupted by land use change and deforestation.

Conservation Actions:

The Sumatran tiger has been included as on Appendix 1 of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1975. It was listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN in 2008 when the population was estimated to be around 400-600 individuals. Far more than are estimated to remain in the wild in 2021.

Protected areas such as national parks and game reserves now serve as a last refuge for Sumatran tigers. These include Kerinci Seblat National Park and the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park.

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Link(s):

Protecting the Sumatran tiger in Kerinci Seblat National Park