New rescue facility for Sumatran tigers opens

tiger enclosure (credit: Asia Paper and Pulp)

A new observation and protection enclosure has been opened up to help rehabilitate rescued tigers in Indonesia. The new enclosure will help the local wildlife protection officers to check the health of rescued tigers and prepare them for release back into the wild.

The new enclosure is at a centre in Perawang, Riau province, Sumatra. The observation area measures 6 x 6 metres and will help the tiger conservation workers make sure that any tigers released back into the wild in the area are sufficiently healthy to withstand the release.

Preparing Sumatran tigers for release.

The new facility is currently home to a tiger called Bima. A two year old male, he was rescued in Riau last October and is scheduled for release in the next few months.

This partnership is an important step to help ensuring the success of the Government’s program to increase the population up to 3% in 2014 and also conserving the Sumatran Tiger in conservation areas.

The new facility is part of an ongoing programme of public-private partnerships to help Indonesia protect its tigers. There are thought to be less than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild and these numbers are at high risk. Recent figures released by the Forestry Ministry put the number of tiger deaths in Indonesia in 2011 at 40.

2 of Indonesia’s tiger species extinct.

Indonesia has already lost 2 of its tiger species – the Java tiger and the Bali tiger – and major conservation work is underway to ensure that the Sumatran tiger does not follow the others into extinction.

The new observation facility has been funded with help from PT. Arara Abadi, a local pulpwood company and Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP).

At the opening ceremony of the observation facility APP and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry signed a memorandum of understanding to start a range of partnership projects to help Indonesia’s most endangered species including the Sumatran tiger. Projects will include habitat infrastructure developments, community education and human-tiger conflict management strategies.

Dignitaries at the opening of tiger rehabilitation facility.

The opening ceremony of the new resource was attended by officials from the Ministry of Forestry and local Government, conservationists, senior representatives of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency, Indonesia Safari Park, The Sumatran Tiger Conservation Foundation (YPHS), as well as PT. Arara Abadi and APP personnel.

Darori, MM, Director General of the Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Ministry of Forestry, said: “This kind of public-private partnership will continue to be essential in supporting the conservation of endangered species in Indonesia. Private sector enterprises need to work hand in hand with Government to help protect the Sumatran tiger, as well as a range of other endangered species.”

Aida Greenbury, Managing Director, Sustainability & Stakeholder Engagement, APP, said: “Our vision is to support animal conservation programmes in Sumatra and elsewhere by helping to integrate conservation landscapes for the lasting protection of Sumatran tigers and other endangered species. We work closely with our suppliers, the Government and other stakeholders to engage with a wide range of conservation programmes, not just focused on tigers, but on other animals, including orangutans and the Javan rhino.”

One of the partners involved with the new tiger observation enclosure, Indonesia Safari Park, pointed out that the new facility was not there to aid public display but for conservationist to monitor the tigers well-being. Director,Tony Sumampau, said: “It is important that local communities and other members of the wider public understand that tigers like Bima need to be protected before being released, and are not being held for public display. The purpose of the observation and protection enclosure is to carry out the final stages of monitoring and preparation for tigers, to ensure they are in prime condition and can survive by themselves, before being finally released into the wild.”

Leading conservationist Bastoni, of the Sumatran Tiger Conservation Foundation (YPHS), said: “As Sumatran tigers are still an extremely endangered species, it is essential that every possible step is taken to protect the welfare of those tigers that are released back into the forest. This observation and protection enclosure will become an important part of the release process for tigers that are rescued and have to be released into the wild.”

The importance of public-private partnership in conservation of endangered species is also stressed by Dr. Ir. Bambang Novianto W., MSi, Director of Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Forestry. “This partnership is an important step to help ensuring the success of the Government’s program to increase the population up to 3% in 2014 and also conserving the Sumatran Tiger in conservation areas (in-situ).”

New rehabilitation facilities are essential if rescued tigers are to be returned to the wild in a condition that will enable them to survive. Yesterdays opening of the new facility came on the same day that it was announced by Ministry of Forestry officials that a tiger rescued from a poacher snare had died during treatment at the Taman Safair Park in Java. The rescue of the tiger had been widely reported but sadly it was too badly injured to make a recovery.

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