The Sumatran tiger aka Panthera tigris sumatrae is the last of Indonesia’s tigers. Gone are the Bali tigers and Javan tigers from the earth because of another predatory species called man.
With just over 300 of these creatures left on earth the future of the Sumatran tiger hangs on a thread.
The Sumatran tiger is critically endangered.
The remaining Sumatran tigers of the earth live in isolated populations across Sumatra and otherwise resides only in zoos and and otherwise in the care of man.
At this point the main reason for their continuing decline is loss of habitat. Most of that is because of expanding palm oil plantations and acacia plantations. The next biggest threat is lack of food which is caused by the very same thing and lastly… even though these furry beasts are listed as critically endangered they are still hunted for their furs, claws, heads and a few other bits with the goal being big bucks on the illegal the retail market. Tiger bones average over four thousand bucks (US dollars) per ounce on the retail market. Just passing some laws doesn’t do shit when it comes to people’s greed. All you have to do to realize that is look at the so called “drug war” in America. It has increased drug values and business opportunities rather than decreased them.
The point I am making here is that just making laws against an activity doesn’t stop the activity. More aggressive actions need be taken to save this creature.
Normally I would give a few links with a post like this that would send you to a site where I thought some kick ass efforts were being made. Well… sadly I don’t know of any for this creature. Some people and gruops have their hand in the pot for sure (for example Panthera, Inc) but nobody is getting aggressive with stopping the destruction of land and hunting (should I have said stopping?) the poachers.
If you know of a group that IS cracking down on this I’d love to hear about it.
On a good note… breeding programs are helpful in keeping a species alive. One of my favorite zoos which I also happen to visit about yearly as it is only a few hours away from me happens to have a bit of wonderful for you to see. Kirana, Dari, and Indah are rare Sumatran tigers born October 8, 2014. They are on exhibit daily with their mother, Jaya, in the Asian Forest Sanctuary at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Check it out!
Alright then… I have an art blog. It isn’t a save the planet blog. Back to the art.
Yo can get prints of this via Fine Art America.
You can get T-shirts, phone cases, and other stuff via Society6,
and a slightly modified version on shirts , cards, etc… on RedBubble.
Leave a Reply