Sumatran tigers face many threats in the wild including habitat loss due to palm-oil deforestation, acacia plantations, human-animal conflict and poaching.
"The United Nations recently listed illegal wildlife trade as a serious crime because of the escalating demand for highly prized species, such as tiger and rhinoceros, and the failure to effectively control the trade. In turn, this places greater urgency on reducing supply by securing source populations of these species"
(Linkie, Matthew et.al. “Safeguarding Sumatran tigers: evaluating effectiveness of law enforcement patrols and local informant networks”, Journal of Applied Ecology, 2015).
The Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund has partner with WildCats Conservation Alliance to conserve this species in their wild habitat and part of your Zoo ticket goes towards the vital support of these Tigers.
The Tiger Protection Project is funded through Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund and our goal is to strengthen protection and conservation of the Sumatran tiger in Kerinci Seblat National Park. Kerinci Seblat National Park is the largest park in Sumatra, Indonesia, spanning more than 1.38 million hectares of protected land and housing at least 166 individual tigers. This funding facilitated the wildlife crime Rapid Reaction Unit (URC) created to respond to active poaching threats in the area and to remove snare traps.
Auckland Zoo is proud to support Sumatran Ranger Project (SRP), which was founded by our very own Deputy Curator, Mammals, Amy Robbins - who you may recognise from our Wild Work Sumatra TV series! Amy and her team of rangers work hard to keep Sumatran tigers safe by protecting the forest edge in the Leuser Ecosystem in Sumatra to benefit both wildlife and people. SRP assist the communities that live along the forest edge by providing education and resources such as constructing predator-proof livestock corral to keep livestock safe from Sumatran tigers.
