Tiger Research Unit

Update terus kegiatan para Tiger Research Unit di lapangan

Sumatran tigers nearly extinct in Way Kambas

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung | Tue, 01/18/2011 11:52 AM 

The critically-endangered Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) population in Way Kambas National Park (TNWK) has declined past recent estimates as a result of poaching and the destruction of wildlife habitats.

The  latest data issued by the TNWK in Lampung this month showed that the number of Sumatran tigers in the park has dwindled to the brink of extinction. 

The Tiger Summit Promises a New Paradigm - 20th of December 2010

Anand Seth. Senior Adviser Global Tiger Initiative.

The recent International Tiger Forum—the “Tiger Summit” hosted by Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg - has been lauded as highly successful by most observers. The Summit was unique in its high-level attention to a single species. It was attended by five Prime Ministers of Tiger Range Countries (TRCs), witnessed by Hollywood’s Leonardo de Caprio and Bollywood’s Priety Zinta, and orchestrated by World Bank President Zoellick.  Even though India’s Prime Minister, custodian to half of the world’s wild tigers, could not be there, India was not missing in action either. In October in Delhi under Minister Jairam Ramesh, India helped achieve the much-needed consensus among the 13 TRCs on a Global Tiger Recovery Program. The Delhi Consensus provided a solid foundation for the success of the Summit.

Workshop on illegal wildlife poaching and trade eradication held in Riau

Pekanbaru, 15 Desember 2010 – Illegal poaching, ownership and trading of endangered and protected wildlife has becomes serious threats to the existence of Indonesian endangered species. The wildlife trade itself is a complex network involving many stakeholders from hunters to exporters.

The Ministry of Forestry in cooperation with WWF-Indonesia will hold a workshop on the issue of illegal wildlife trading and poaching in Pekanbaru, Riau starting from 15 to 17th December 2010. Riau Province posses insurmountable biodiversity which is prone to illegal wildlife poaching and trading. Strategic geographical location, economic expansion and development, easy transportation access, as well as loose monitoring of wildlife trafficking sustain illegal wildlife trade activities.

The Leonardo Dicaprio fund commits $1 million to WWF to save tigers now

Posted on 24 November 2010 on http://www.wwf.or.id/en/news_facts/new_articles/?21120/The-Leonardo-Dicaprio-fund-commits-1-million-to-WWF-to-save-tigers-now

DiCaprio to attend historic tiger summit this week to foster support for critical conservation efforts

For Release: Nov 23, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC, November 23, 2010 – As world leaders gather for a historic summit to save tigers from extinction, Leonardo DiCaprio today committed $1 million to World Wildlife Fund for urgent tiger conservation efforts through his Fund at the California Community Foundation. DiCaprio will also attend this week’s summit.

Across Asia, tiger numbers have dropped from 100,000 at the beginning of the last century to as few as 3,200 today. Heads of government from the 13 tiger range countries are gathered in St. Petersburg, Russia, for a first-ever summit to save tigers hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. They are expected to announce a Global Tiger Recovery Program with a goal of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022.

Key tiger habitat in Sumatra being clear felled by huge paper company

Bukit Tigapuluh being clear cut by Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group

December 2010. A forest named by international scientists as one of the top 20 priority landscapes globally for the survival of the tiger is being systematically targeted for pulp production by Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group (APP/SMG), one of the world's largest paper suppliers. This is in breach of the company's claims that it doesn't target high quality and high conservation value forest for clearing and that its carbon footprint is close to neutral.

Wildlife and tribes being driven out

An investigation by local NGOs working in central Sumatra found that since 2004, APP-affiliated companies have systematically sought out inactive selective logging concessions on land with dense natural forests in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape. The companies obtained government licenses to switch their status to industrial timber plantation concessions, sometimes under legally questionable circumstances. This allows for clear cutting and replacing the natural forest with commercial plantations. Such conversion leaves the elephants, tigers, orangutans and forest-dwelling indigenous tribes who have been living here for centuries all homeless.