19/03/2005 – A hidden
camera set up by WWF in the rainforests of
Indonesia has captured a rare Sumatran tiger
walking through the jungle.
WWF scientists are using camera traps to
help conduct surveys that will provide a range
map for tigers in Sumatra's lowland rainforest.
The cameras will also help provide a density
estimate of tigers in various habitat types
and determine whether there are adequate prey
species for tigers to subsist. The results
could have significant implications for species
and forest preservation here and around the
world.
"Sumatran tigers are critically endangered,
with as few as 400 left in the wild,"
said Dr Sybille Klenzendorf, lead scientist
for WWF's tiger programme. "We're racing
to find out as much about them and where they
live as we can, before more of their natural
habitat is converted to commercial plantations
growing pulp wood and palm oil trees."
This is the first time WWF has used camera
traps to study tigers in Indonesia.
In July 2004, field staff began handing out
questionnaires to find out if local people
had seen any tigers. Scientists then conducted
a track survey, in which they attempted to
find evidence of the animals in a specific
area. This information was used to determine
where to set up the 30 camera traps, armed
with infrared sensors triggered by movement.
The survey portion of the project will likely
last between two and three years, and could
lead to opportunities for radio collaring
and tracking tigers in order to better establish
the size and shape of their range in certain
habitats.
Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae)
face a number of threats — notably poaching
and habitat loss — and could go extinct in
the 21st century. Much of the forest where
WWF's camera traps are set up is slated to
be cut down and converted to commercial plantations,
threatening the tigers and the prey they feed
on.
"The good news for tigers is that, like
housecats, they breed quickly. Populations
are able to rebound if they are protected
from poaching and if their habitat is preserved,"
Klenzendorf said. "It's not too late
for Indonesia to get serious about wildlife
protection and save the country's last tigers."
Indonesia already has lost two tiger subspecies,
the Bali and Javan tigers, which became extinct
in the 1940s and 1980s respectively. Three
of the world's eight tiger subspecies have
gone extinct in the past 70 years; the remaining
five subspecies are all endangered.
