Copyright 2000 Interpress Service
December 7, 2000
By Richel Dursin

Poaching and logging are wiping out the Sumatran tiger growing demand for tiger skins and body parts and Indonesia's economic crisis are contributing to the problem

JAKARTA, Dec. 7 (IPS) -- Rising demand for the body parts and skins of Sumatran tigers has encouraged some Indonesians to hunt the endangered species, and the government says it does not have the resources to stop them.

"It is difficult to stop tiger poaching because the poachers are clever and have strong networks," says Samedi, head of the sub-directorate of trade and traffic wildlife control of the ministry of forestry.

Though prohibited, the trade in Sumatran tigers -- known in West Sumatran mythology as kind-hearted beasts -- is flourishing partly due to the economic crisis in Indonesia.

Tiger parts and skins being openly sold in shopping malls and airports, according to the results of an investigation by the World Wildlife Foundation.

WWF Indonesia also says body parts of the Sumatran tigers -- who live mainly in five reserves on Sumatra island -- are illegally exported to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan with countries like Singapore as the transit point.

The three main exporting cities for Sumatran tigers are Jakarta, Pekanbaru, and Medan, the Fund adds.

More than 200 kg of tiger bones were exported to South Korea alone in 1993, a figure equivalent to around 15 tigers being killed, says the forestry ministry.

"The Sumatran tiger population is decreasing fast because of an increase in poaching," says Chairul Saleh, WWF senior project officer.

Every year some 36 Sumatran tigers are illegally removed from the wild, but the number may be higher, according to WWF.

There used to be thousands of tigers in the jungles of Sumatra. But due to poaching, only about 400 Sumatran tigers are left in national parks and 100 outside protected areas such as logging concessions.

Worried by the illegal trade, the Indonesian government, together with conservation groups such as the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, has set up anti-poaching units in national parks like Way Kambas, Bukit Barisan Selatan, and Kerinci Seblat in South Sumatra, northeast of the capital Jakarta.

Still, most of the time the patrol units do not arrest tiger poachers for fear of retaliation.

"What the patrol units do is drive the tiger poachers out of the forests, but not arrest them," explains Nazir Foead, deputy director species conservation of WWF Indonesia.

Likewise, "it is hard to get evidence because the tiger poachers usually bring nothing that can be used as an evidence," Foead says.

The anti-poaching units, each consisting of three forestry police officers and one villager, are tasked to arrest tiger poachers and remove snares, and to record the habitat and population of one of the world's most endangered animals. They also do community outreach.

The decline of the Sumatra tiger population is also due to the damage to its known habitat, fragmented by human settlement, expansion of resource extraction activities, and poor laws.

The skill of tiger poachers also aids the illegal trade -- some tiger poachers are taxidermists and can provide high-quality skins for sale. In Sumatra, the tiger poachers operate on their own and are "really professional poachers," according to WWF.

"In rare cases in which they are brought to court, tiger poachers are meted light punishments because a lot of prosecutors and judges are not very familiar with the conservation act," Foead says.

Indonesia's conservation law sets maximum punishment for offenders of five years' imprisonment and a fine of $25,500.

"What is applied in Indonesia are common criminal laws. That's why tiger slaughter is treated the same way as stealing a chicken," Foead says.

In one instance, a tiger poacher was arrested in Way Kambas National Park in Lampung, South Sumatra, but was sentenced to only six months in jail. "If only the law was being enforced, it is a good deterrent to poachers," Samedi says.

Sumatran tigers are classified under Appendix 1 of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, which means they are "very endangered" and should not be traded.

But market demand fuels the hunt for the big cats. "Poachers can sell just about every single piece of the tiger's anatomy because apart from the skins," says Sugeng Hariady, head of the West Sumatra wildlife preservation office.

"Practically all the parts of the fierce felines, including the skeleton, are traditionally believed to have medical benefits," Hariady adds.

Much of the tiger slaughter is destined for the Chinese medicine market. Aside from being used as medicines, tiger parts like claws and bones are utilized as ornaments. A tiger penis is also taken as an aphrodisiac.

Here in Indonesia, some people have whole tigers mounted as decorations in their houses and others keep them as pets. Foead adds that tiger parts are commonly used as amulets by shamans.

Already, the damaged environment in Sumatra has more than enough proof that its tigers and other animals are under threat.

"The rapidly diminishing population of the Sumatran tigers is indicated by the increasing number of pigs and wild boars in West Sumatra, which are often a nuisance to farmers," Hariady says.

Indeed, Forestry Minister Nurmahmudi Ismail notes, "every year, the size of our natural forest is shrinking."

Indonesia's total forested area has fallen to 58.5 million hectares from 64 million hectares over the last six years, due to illegal logging and conversion of forests to palm oil plantations.

In Sumatra itself, lowland forests have been shrinking. At least 25 percent of the Mount Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra has been damaged by rampant deforestation.

Says Foead

"Now with poaching decimating their population and extensive logging destroying their habitat, we fear that the Sumatran tigers will suffer the same fate as that of the Balinese and Javan tigers, both which had long been declared extinct." Error: Unable to read footer file.