Running head: THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER

What is the worth of saving the Sumatran tiger of Sumatra, Indonesia? Donovan C. Bennett UNC Wilmington

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER What is the worth of saving the Sumatran tiger of Sumatra, Indonesia?

Introduction The Sumatran tiger, found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, is currently classified as critically endangered. The decline of the Sumatran tiger, the last Panthera tigris subspecies still existing in Indonesia, is predominantly human caused. While humans clear the tigers habitat for timber and agricultural development, problem tigers that arise are dealt with using improper methods thus fueling their decline. Being one of the largest carnivores on Sumatra, the loss of this top predator has major implications for the ecology of the islands rainforests as well as the economics and culture of Indonesia as a whole, which introduces the question: What is the worth of saving the Sumatran tiger? Using the most current research available, I will discuss the current status of this tiger and the areas that would experience the greatest impact from its conservation.

State of Research to date The greatest threat posed to the Sumatran tiger is the destruction of habitat for timber and agricultural purposes. Like its cousins, the now extinct Bali and Javan tigers, the Sumatrans population is primarily concentrated on a single island in the Indonesian archipelago which only covers about 1.3% of the earth but contains about 10% of the remaining rainforest, 57 million hectares of which are located on the three main islands, including Sumatra. However, as of 2003 Sumatra had lost approximately 29% of its forest cover over a 12 year period: an estimated 6.7 million hectares of rainforest (Kinnaird, Sanderson, O'Brien, Wibisono & Woolmer, 2003). Indonesia has attempted to protect large tracts of critical habitat by establishing national parks

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER and wildlife reserves across Sumatra. However, lowland forests, which can support high densities of tiger populations, were excised for commercial logging during the delineation process and now experience high rates of deforestation (Wibisono et al., 2011). Current estimates place the Sumatran tiger population between 350 and 500 individuals with no subpopulations greater than 50. A majority of the tigers are thought to exist within five national parks and two game reserves while about one-fifth of the entire population lives in

unprotected areas (South Lakes, 2011). An assessment by Linkie, Wibisono, Martyr, and Sunarto (2008) estimated that mature adult tigers make up only about 40% of the total population, thus giving them a lower population growth. However, information from all national parks and reserves with possible tiger subpopulations is incomplete, so these estimates are considered speculative (Linkie et al., 2008). The habitat range of Sumatran tigers within the forests was largely unknown until 2000 when Kinnaird et al. (2003) sampled the large mammals within the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) over a 21 month period using automatic cameras equipped with passive infrared motion sensors. The results indicated that Sumatran tigers typically stayed 2 km or more away from the forest edges (Kinnaird et al., 2003). This break in distributions outlined the core forest area in which tigers survived and also revealed the severe consequences of logging these forests. Indonesia has been a major coffee producer and exporter for several decades. The Lampung province of southern Sumatra is the largest coffee production region in all of Indonesia with 30% of the countrys coffee, most of which is grown inside and adjacent to the BBSNP. As with all other countries, Indonesias coffee industry was greatly impacted by price drops resulting from the overproduction-caused global coffee crisis which occurred when the United

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States left the International Coffee Organization in 1989. In order to stimulate rural development, Indonesia vowed to expand coffee production in the Lampung region. This increased production resulted in a high loss of forest cover within the BBSNP for the expansion of shade-coffee plantations. It was also discovered that deforestation rates were directly related to the price of coffee paid to producers; speculation and deforestation rates doubled during periods of peak price. This increase resulted in a constant shrinkage of core forest and increased habitat fragmentation (O'Brien & Kinnaird, 2003). A subsequent field survey from 2007 to 2009 by Wibisono et al. (2011), eight wildlife conservation organizations and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry revealed the distribution of tigers across Sumatra. Seven different landscapes across Sumatras eight provinces were divided into 394 17x17 km grid cells and surveyed for tiger pugmarks. Locations of tiger detections within the 13,511 km of surveyed landscape were recorded with a GPS. Results indicated that the tigers status was good in major landscapes. However, evidence suggested that few tigers inhabit the Northern Riau landscape which has experienced the highest rate of forest conversion (65% in 25 years) in all of Sumatra due to the construction of illegal roads and illegal deforestation for the development of palm oil and pulpwood plantations led primarily by Asia Pulp & Paper. A much higher concentration of tiger detections was found within the Leuser-Ulu Masen landscape of northern Sumatra. This area has now been recognized as a global priority for wild tiger conservation for providing the first reliable tiger conservation status within Sumatras largest continuous forest estate. This achievement was possible due to the efforts of the government of Aceh, the province in which part of the Gunung Leuser National Park is located. In 2007, Aceh placed a moratorium on all commercial logging, palm oil production and agricultural plantations. Aceh has also prioritized an economic development plan that focuses on

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER the management of intact forests through the United Nations Collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degration (UN-REDD) standards (Wibisono et al., 2011). It has long been known that the five remaining subspecies of tigers are very similar

genetically, with geographic separation allowing each to evolve independently. But research was undertaken to distinguish the subspecies from one another to provide captive breeding programs with the best knowledge of how to expand genetic diversity as well as to prioritize the conservation of the most threatened tiger. In 1998, Cracraft, Feinstein, Vaughn, and HelmBychowski (1998) discovered that Sumatran tiger haplotypes differed from other tigers in three different locations which revealed the Sumatran to be its own distinct species. The small divergence indicates that the Sumatran tiger became isolated from other species between 6,000 and 12,000 years and that no interbreeding occurred after its isolation (Cracraft et al., 1998). A subsequent study by Mazak and Groves (2006) further proved this distinction by revealing that the Sumatrans skull is considerably different from that of its closest possible relatives, the Corbetts and Javan tigers, with 100% accuracy. It is their suggestion that the Sumatran be classified as separate species, Panthera sumatrae (Mazak & Groves, 2006).

Discussion Humans have always been one of the most destructive forces to face the environment. Innovation, intelligence and the unique ability to adapt have helped our species become the top predator in almost any environment. These traits are also the largest threat to all other species on the planet. Within the past 90 years humans have caused the extinction of three tiger subspecies (Bali, Caspian, Javan) with a fourth extinction (Amoy) just a few decades away. The need to

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER consume drives the over-utilization of resources or species and forces wildlife into the unwinnable battle of instincts versus technology. Humans usually emerge victorious in these episodes but not without sometimes fatal clashes with the natural world.

Human-tiger conflicts are not a highly publicized occurrence in America, but on Sumatra it is a fear that villages battle daily. Most perceptions of these conflicts are typically one-sided with the involved humans being victimized when, in reality, all parties involved are victims. Tiger attacks do happen on occasion but, by comparison, there are far more domestic dog-related injuries and fatalities than tiger-related. It is also important to consider why the tiger attacked. As deforestation destroys their habitat and reduces their selection of prey, tigers may be forced to venture closer to forest edges in search of food. Between 1978 and 1997 tigers were held responsible for a minimum of 870 livestock deaths, more than likely for food. In the same 20 year period tigers reportedly caused 146 fatalities and 30 injuries to humans. Of these attacks, about 68% occurred around forest edges or within forested areas. Generally, the Sumatran localities will not let these attacks go unnoticed; retaliation in the form of trapping, hunting and poisoning usually ensues, with military and conservation authorities aiding in live captures (Nyhus & Tilson, 2004). But these tigers can hardly be blamed as their pool of resources has been drastically depleted and they are possibly attacking out of desperation. Maturity and gender may also play into these attacks. Out of 15 attacks where more than one tiger was involved 64% were reported to be young tigers. Also, out of 15 incidents where the attacking tiger was captured or killed, 73% of those attacks were carried out by male tigers (Nyhus & Tilson, 2004). Forest conservation is the first step in eliminating unwanted exchanges between tigers and humans. Special economic incentives should be offered for the protection of forest or conversion of low quality cropland. The initial focus of any land conversions should be land

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between forest fragments as this would eliminate the forest edges that tigers avoid. Additionally, incorporating new or underutilized crops into the Sumatran agriculture and granting subsidies to alleviate the reliance on coffee production would reduce the need to remove forest cover and would provide the added benefit of reducing coffee overproduction. This would allow inhabitants of Sumatra to make a living while simultaneously creating more habitat for tigers and reducing the likelihood of conflicts. Furthermore, since the conservation of the Sumatran tigers is heavily dependent upon the conservation of its tropical rainforest habitat, it could be said that protecting the tiger could reduce climate change as the forests would retain carbon and continually produce oxygen. More strict measures would need to be taken in areas such as Northern Riau where companies such as Asia Pulp & Paper partake in illegal activities such as deforestation and road building on protected lands. Debt-for-nature swaps with more developed countries could provide the incentive needed to increase monitoring and penalties for illegal activities. In a lecture on November 29, 2011, to an EVS 330 class (Natural Resource Economics), Dr. Peter Schuhmann communicated that a debt-for-nature swap could be one of the most viable conservation options at this point as Indonesia experienced quite a bit of success with a swap in 2009 as part of the U.S. Tropical Deforestation Act which exchanged $60 million worth of debt for the protection of forest on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo (P. Schuhmann, EVS 330 lecture, November 29, 2011). Another possible solution, albeit more difficult to accomplish without causing economic damage or backlash from industry, would be to incorporate previously excised land into the national parks and establish more strict regulations on protected forests. Another threat, not just to the Sumatran but to all tiger subspecies, is illegal poaching and hunting for trade on the black market. As traditional Chinese medicine spreads across Asia the

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER demand for tigers rises since nearly every part of the tigers body is considered to have healing qualities. Despite having little to no scientific evidence to support the healing properties of tiger parts the trade continues and the high prices offered for tiger remains entice hunters to risk breaking the law; as much as $20,000 may be offered for a single tiger (South Lakes, 2011). Increases in poached tigers can be directly associated with habitat loss. As prey becomes scare, tigers are more likely to venture closer to the forest edges where poachers can easily lay traps.

The legal repercussions for poaching and selling tigers are not nearly strict enough to curtail this activity. In the early 2000s, a poacher was arrested for possession of a female tiger skin and 4.5 kg of bones. After it was determined to be his first offence, the poachers 18 months prison sentence was reduced to 9 months (Linkie, Martyr, Holden, Yanuar, Hartana, Sugardjito, LeaderWilliams, 2003). This short time in jail is hardly enough to curtail future poaching. Further elimination of the Sumatran tiger will have detrimental effects on the environment of Sumatra. The tigers role as the top predator of the forests of Sumatra gives it the unparalleled importance of keeping the populations of smaller species under control. Also, studies have found that the more species on each trophic level, the more stability there is throughout the whole food web (Quince, Higgs, & McKane, 2005). And while the Sumatran tiger isnt the only big cat found on Sumatra, its existence within the food webs of the forests would certainly increase stability. Furthermore, as the tiger is eliminated from the ecosystems of Sumatra the populations of smaller species could potentially rise, damaging the environment until their population can no longer be supported. But before that point is reached competition for resources could cause multiple species to go extinct before the environment is ever depleted. In some instances these exploding populations could begin feeding on local cropland or grazing amongst unattended village livestock. Ultimately, the loss of the tiger could cause agricultural

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER and economic damages to local villages and plantations. This is yet another instance where the conservation of the tiger could also provide for the welfare of the residents of Sumatra. Despite all the evidence suggesting that the Sumatran tiger is a distinct species not only is it classified as a subspecies, but its also the smallest subspecies still in existence. If current

population trends continued the Sumatran would be the second tiger in line for extinction and the fifth overall. The suggestion that the Sumatran should be its own species would have great implications for conservation. The Sumatrans status as a distinct species could grant it priority over other species in captive breeding programs where space is already limited and favors the Bengal and Amur tigers, both of which have experienced decent population growths (Cracraft et al. 1998). Captive breeding of the Sumatran would greatly increase its genetic diversity and capacity for survival and repopulation. This would prevent the Sumatran from experiencing the same fate as the Amoy tiger. The Amoy hasnt been seen in the wild for over 20 years and its numbers in captivity are so low that the lack of genetic diversity would cause the population to crash within a few generations due to inbreeding. Losing the Sumatran would also extinguish any possible related scientific breakthroughs or evolutionary discoveries that have yet to be found. While most people in the world may not be able to specifically identify the Sumatra by its subspecies they do recognize that it is a tiger. Tigers have long been symbols of power, strength, honor, primal instincts and the supernatural. Various religions and cultures of Asia have absorbed the tiger into their very fabrics. The Chinese zodiac encapsulates all the fierce and regal qualities of the tiger. Gladiators in ancient Rome fought against tigers in the Coliseum while the courts of Asia employed them as executioners. In Hinduism, Shiva the destroyer rides a tiger while followers of Islam believe that tigers are sent to punish sinners (South Lakes, 2011). In

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER America tigers are commonly associated with zoos and inspire works in various forms of

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entertainment: Calvin and Hobbes, Winnie the Pooh, Siegfried and Roy, etc. While significant in these areas, the tiger also manages to capture appeal on a global scale. In 2004, Animal Planet conducted a survey in 73 countries to find out what the worlds favorite animal was. The tiger managed to edge out all the other contenders with a little more than 1/5 of the votes (Manchester Evening, 2004). Also, the existence value of the Sumatran tiger is economically beneficial for Sumatra. Like other symbolic and threatened species such as the Giant Panda and Bald Eagle, concern is shown for the survival of the Sumatran tiger through donations of money and time (volunteers). These species may never actually provide any services for a majority of the earths population but their existence provides comfort to concerned individuals and organizations everywhere. On a completely different level, one devoid of scientific reasoning, the Sumatran tiger should be saved simply because it is a living, breathing organism. It has fought for its existence over several millennia, evolving to survive in the isolated environment of Sumatra. It reproduces and cares for its cubs, which possess an adorable charm that is irresistible to many, just like any other species, including humans. The Sumatran communicates and interacts with other members of its species, feels pain, deals with day-to-day problems such as feeding its family and protecting its home. In this sense, the human race isnt that far separated from the tiger. The loss of the Sumatran tiger would just result in a furthering of our race from the natural world, the world that we are already out of touch with. This argument is entirely based on animal rights and the value of life and may not hold much in the realm of logic but it has the potential to sway anyone with a sympathetic heart for the plight of these big cats.

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So what is it worth to save the Sumatran tiger? Although a value cannot be placed on life, helping the Sumatran tiger would save hundreds of livestock, dozens of humans, ecological prosperity within the Sumatran ecosystems, economics incentives and protection for Sumatran localities, a small step towards alleviating climate change, preservation of a cultural and religious icon, survival of a prime example of independent evolution, a globally endorsed existence value and the satisfaction of knowing that humans can reverse at least some of the problems placed upon the natural world. Reaching the point where Sumatran tiger populations will take time, research, sacrifices and innovative solutions but their survival is still possible.

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER Literature Cited Cracraft, J., Feinstein, J., Vaughn, J., Helm-Bychowski, K. (1998). Sorting out tigers (Panthera

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tigris): mitochondrial sequences, nuclear inserts, systematics, and conservation genetics. Animal Conservation, 1(2): 139-150. Kinnaird, M.F., Sanderson, E.W., O'Brien, T.G., Wibisono, H.T., Woolmer, G. (2003, February). Deforestation Trends in a Tropical Landscape and Implications for Endangered Large Mammals. Conservation Biology, 17(1): 245257. Linkie, M., Martyr, D.J., Holden, J. Yanuar, A., Hartana, A.T., Sugardjito J., Leader-Williams, N. (2003). Habitat destruction and poaching threaten the Sumatran tiger in Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra. Oryx, 37(1): 68-74. Linkie, M., Wibisono, H.T., Martyr, D.J. & Sunarto, S. (2008). Panthera tigris ssp. sumatrae. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. Manchester Evening News (2004, December 6). Tiger is world's favorite animal. Retrieved from http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/139/139264_tiger_is_worlds_fav ourite_animal.html. Mazak, J.H., Groves, C.P. (2006). A taxonomic revision of the tigers (Panthera tigris) of Southeast Asia. Mammalian Biology, 71(5): 268-287. Nyhus, P.J., Tilson, R. (2004). Characterizing human-tiger conflict in Sumatra, Indonesia: implications for conservation. Oryx, 38(1): 68-74. O'Brien, T.G., Kinnaird, M.F. (2003, April 25). Caffeine and Conservation. Science, 300(5619), 587. Quince, C., Higgs, P. G. and McKane, A. J. (2005). Deleting species from model food webs. / Oikos, 110: 283-296.

THE WORTH OF SAVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER South Lakes Wild Animal Park (2011). The Sumatran Tiger Trust. Retrieved from http://www.tigertrust.info/sumatran_tiger_tiger.asp. Wibisono, H.T., Linkie, M., Guillera-Arroita, G., Smith, J.A., Sunarto, S., Suhartono, T. (2011, November 2). Population Status of a Cryptic Top Predator: An Island-Wide Assessment of Tigers in Sumatran Rainforests. PLoS ONE, 6(11): e25931.

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