The Sumatran tiger will disappear in a few years unless poaching, trading and the destruction of its forest habitat are halted immediately, a report published on Tuesday says.
Fewer than 500 of the critically endangered species remain in the wild and more than 50 were killed annually in 1998-2002, the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the environmental group WWF say in the Trade of the Sumatran Tiger report.
One of the authors, Chris Shepherd of Traffic, said on Monday that despite some local successes the situation is continuing to deteriorate.
”Demand is the same as ever,” he said. ”If they don’t step up enforcement efforts at all levels very soon they’re going to lose these tigers.”
Indonesia lost its other two tiger subspecies, the Bali and Javan tigers, in the 1930s and 1980s respectively.
The Sumatran, the smallest of the tigers, is found only on the island from which it takes its name.
The report says that unless the authorities enforce the existing laws and intensify conservation programmes the species will become extinct.
The dangers are human: poaching, encouraged by a continuing demand, to make Chinese traditional remedies, and for the hides; destruction of the forests where they live; hunting their prey; and the conflict when tigers enter villages and farms and kill people and livestock, leading to them being captured or killed in turn.
”The attitude of consumers has to change if tigers are going to be saved,” Shepherd said.
Much of the hunting is in national parks, many of which are reported to be poorly protected. An 81-year-old hunter quoted in the report said the competition to catch tigers had increased significantly in recent years.
”Now it is much tougher to catch tigers, because there are so many more men hunting tigers than ever before,” he is reported saying. His annual haul dropped from 14 tigers in 1989 to two in 2002.
A spokesperson for the Indonesian forestry department declined to comment on the report because he had not seen it, but added: ”I can say that we are trying our best.
”The problem is we don’t have enough resources and saving tigers involves many government agencies, so it is very difficult to coordinate.”
One of the few success stories is in Kerinci Seblat national park, which straddles four central provinces.
Debbie Martyr, a Briton, who is the manager of an anti-poaching programme in the park, said that in one area there has been no poaching since a dealer was arrested in September 2002.
”What we’re trying to do is establish no-go zones where the poachers and dealers know it’s dangerous to operate, and build on that,” she said.
The extent of the problem was demonstrated, she said, by the fact that the arrested dealer was reported not to have spent a day in prison since he was detained.
”The judiciary are still a long way from giving their full support”.
Despite the rapidly declining population, the report says that the slide to extinction can be reversed. ”Tigers are a pretty amazing animal,” Shepherd said. ”They can spring back and pretty quickly, so we’re not past the point of no return.” – Guardian Unlimited Â