ZooNooz Article - DECEMBER 2007

Saving the Sumatran Tiger

Today, there are thought to be only about 300 Sumatran Tigers living in the wild. DAVID HARRIS details the involvement of Taronga and Taronga Western Plains Zoos in a program that strives to help save the tiger from extinction.

Photographs Cathy Hattersley. illustration Helen Berriman

Sumatra, the sixth largest island in the world, with roughly twice the land area of Victoria, is the natural habitat of the smallest remaining sub-species of the tiger family.

Originally, Sumatra offered tens of thousands of square kilometres of magnificent tropical forests but today, it is also home to more than 45 million people. People need space and have used land from the forest not only to build homes but also to establish farms, factories and roads - all the trappings of human civilisation.

Over the years, the tigers have been squeezed into smaller and smaller pockets of land between the areas of human occupation with disastrous effects. Now, there are estimated to be only about 300 of the tigers living in the wilds of Sumatra. That's dangerously close to extinction.

Zoos that are members of the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) are working cooperatively with a similar group of European zoos on a Sumatran Tiger breeding program in hopes of preventing the extinction of these magnificent animals. Together, the two groups manage around 125 Sumatran Tigers in captivity worldwide. Luckily, this is a large enough number of animals to maintain the genetic diversity present in the captive population.

Chris Hibbard, Exotic Fauna Precinct Manager at Taronga Zoo, is a key player in this conservation effort. It's his job - in consultation with his European counterpart - to coordinate the breeding and placements of the 31 Sumatran Tigers housed in ARAZPA member zoos. It sounds as if he's the on-line dating service of the tiger world, but it's actually a good deal more complicated than that.

Because they are scattered all over the globe, the tigers in the program aren't in a position to choose their own mates. Instead, Chris and his colleagues do this for them. Careful records have been kept and maintained for each of the 125 tigers in the breeding group.

Experts like Chris can refer to these records and determine who might be a good match on the basis of genetic characteristics. Although it may look good on paper, genetic suitability isn't everything. Similar to the dating world, "chemistry" plays an important role. Until a pair gets together, nobody can be sure that the lucky couple will want to mate. Because moving a tiger around the world costs a great deal of money, involves many complicated procedures and requires much paperwork, the import of animals from overseas is undertaken only when absolutely necessary. This minimises the frustration and expense in the event the tigers decide that they aren't compatible!

The two Sumatran Tigers currently at Taronga are a mother and daughter ... so there is clearly not going to be any breeding at Taronga without some tiger movement! Indeed, the mother is scheduled to transfer to the Adelaide Zoo late in 2007 to be paired with a male that has recently arrived from Germany. And the son of Adelaide's German tiger currently resides at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo - he will be brought down to Taronga to pair up with the daughter.

After the transfers it will be fingers crossed! The shorter days of autumn and winter are ideal for mating. When the females go into oestrus, the tigers will be gradually introduced to each other because there is far less likelihood of serious aggression at that time.

They will stay together during the approximately 104 days of pregnancy, but the male will be removed when births are about to take place. He'll remain in close contact, but separated from the mother and cubs.

Over the next ten years, the ARAZPA member zoos hope for twenty successful births, and the group in Europe hopes for thirty.

This targeted number of births should be sufficient to ensure that the captive population meets the goals of the management program while preserving as much of the genetic diversity as possible. Sadly, there is no point in building a much larger population because there is currently no safe, or suitable, place for release into the wild.

The Sumatran Tigers in captivity play a valuable role in highlighting the plight of the species in the wild, and many zoos contribute to the funding of in-situ conservation initiatives through fundraising activities and conservation awareness programs.

They are also just stunningly beautiful creatures.

Thanks to the long-term planning and careful management carried out by Chris and member zoos, the magnificent Sumatran Tiger no longer risks total extinction.

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