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Group urges swift action to save Sumatran tiger

An undated handout photo released yesterday shows three Sumatran tiger cubs. Indonesia has failed to stop poaching of the endangered tigers, with body parts of the big cats for sale at retail outlets, a wildlife group warned yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The critically endangered Sumatran tiger will become extinct unless Indonesia takes swift action to clamp down on the illegal sale of the big cats' body parts across the country, a conservation group warned yesterday.

TRAFFIC, a British-based international wildlife trade monitoring network, said in a report that it found tiger bones, claws, skins and whiskers being sold openly in eight cities on Indonesia's Sumatra Island in 2006, despite tough laws banning such trade.

The group estimated that 23 tigers had been killed to supply the parts found for sale in souvenir, Chinese medicine and jewelry stores. Prices ranged from the equivalent of US$14 for a tiger claw to about US$116 per kilogram of tiger bones.

"Surveys continue to show that Sumatran tigers are being sold body part by body part into extinction," said a statement issued by Susan Lieberman, director of the species program for the conservation group WWF, which contributed to the report.

The Sumatran tiger is the world's most critically endangered tiger subspecies -- WWF estimates fewer than 400 remain in the wild in comparison to about 1,000 in the 1970s. The tigers' diminishing population is largely blamed on poaching and the destruction of their forest habitat for palm oil and wood pulp plantations.

"This is an enforcement crisis," Lieberman's statement said, adding that Indonesia needs to show it can cope with the crisis or ask for help from the international community.

Indonesia launched a 10-year plan to protect the Sumatran tiger in December. But conservationists complain that Indonesian commitments to preserving wildlife are rarely supported by enforcement measures.

"There is no effective enforcement on the ground," said Chris Shepherd, senior program officer for TRAFFIC who has been tracking the Indonesian tiger trade for nearly 15 years. "It boils down to lack of resources. Wildlife crime isn't viewed as a high priority in Indonesia or anywhere in Southeast Asia."
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