SUMATRAN TIGERS
Sumatran tigers are smaller, darker and their stripes are much closer to together than other species. They measure 2.54 meters from the end of their nose to the tip of their tail and weigh an average of 120 kilograms, with females being about 20 kilograms lighter than males.
Sumatran tigers are thought by some to be the most intelligent tiger subspecies. There is a story about one Sumatran tiger who was captured and placed on a ship that was supposed to deliver him to the Amsterdam Zoo. The tiger escaped from its cage and looked over the side of the ship and saw the coast of Malaysia, which was only four miles away. It then leapt in the water and started swimming toward Sumatra which was 80 miles away.
In Sumatra, many local people regard the tiger as an enforcer of proper behavior. They believe that a person who is killed by a tiger is being punished for some crime or transgression or broken taboo such as adultery or sharing food from the same pot.
There are plans to clone Sumatran tigers using the same or similar technology used in the past to clone gaur. The plan calls for Sumatran tiger cub to be produced by placing tiger DNA into the eggs of a large non-tiger feline and for the eggs to be raised by the same animal.. Researchers also hope to raise tigers from embryos placed in lions. Rare Indian desert cats have been raised from embryos placed on domestic cats.
Sumatran Tiger Population
Sumatra's total tiger population was estimated at 500 to 700 individuals in 2017, with another 300 or so are in zoos and captivity. Scientist now believe there may be more tigers in Indonesia than were previously thought. There may be 500 in reserves and another 100 in unprotected areas. Despite pressures from poachers and deforestation, the Sumatran tiger has proved to be very resilient.
Perhaps the largest population of Sumatran tigers is Bukit Tigapuluh wildlife reserve, but even there large swath of forests have disappeared and been replaced by rubber and palm oil plantations. Much of the reserve lies inside a land concession belonging to a subsidary of the Indonesian paper firm Barito Timber Pacific. The Tiger Foundation and the Sumatran Tiger Trust have been involved in efforts to save the Sumatran tiger. They established Indonesia’s first tiger sanctuary, the 150,000-acre Senepis Tiger Conservation Area. It can sustain 25 tigers, too small to accommodate a breeding population so tigers captured elsewhere are brought in.
Sumatran Tiger Characteristics and Behavior
Sumatran tigers are the smallest tiger species in the world, but they are known for being aggressive. They have distinctive dark orange fur and prominent black stripes. Sumatran tigers strongly prefer uncultivated forests and stay away from palm oil plantations. Within natural forest areas, they tend to use areas with higher elevation, lower annual rainfall, farther from the forest edge, and closer to forest centres. They prefer forest with dense understory cover and steep slope, and they strongly avoid forest areas with high human influence in the forms of encroachment and settlement.
Sumatran tigers can jump vertically up to five meters (16 feet) and leap forward up to 10 meters (32.5 feet). Their hind legs are longer than their front legs, which helps them leap. The ligaments in their feet also help them absorb the impact of landing. Sumatran tigers can run up to 64 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour), but only for short distances.
Sumatran tigers are ambush predators that stalk their prey silently. Their prey includes fish, monkeys, wild boar, tapirs, and deer. In the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, nine prey species larger than one kilogram were identified: great argus, pig-tailed macaque, Malayan porcupine, Malayan tapir, banded pig, greater and lesser mouse-deer, Indian muntjac, and Sambar deer.
Tiger Attacks in Indonesia
In January 1998, AP reported: “Frightened villagers have trapped a rare Sumatran tiger they believe killed four people last year, and officials were awaiting money for tranquilizer darts so they could transport it to a zoo. While some villagers has asked police to kill the Sumatran tiger, Indonesia's last surviving tiger species, the animal is protected under Indonesian law because of its endangered status. Residents of the village of Fajar Bulan on the island of Sumatra, about 190 miles northwest of Jakarta, captured the wild tiger in a nearby jungle by ensnaring its left leg with a lasso-like trap, police Lt. Suharto said. The tiger was being held until local officials could buy tranquilizer darts to subdue the animal and take it to a zoo, police said. [Source: Associated Press, January 2, 1998]
Three of the four victims in last year's tiger attacks were plantation workers, the Indonesian Observer reported. A fourth was a farmer who was mauled to death by a tiger soon after a herd of wild elephants trampled through his rice fields. Suharto said police still had not established whether the tiger trapped Thursday had attacked anyone. Deforestation is a major problem in Sumatra, where wildfires raged last year and forced normally timid wildlife into populated areas. The World Wide Fund for Nature has estimated that just 500 Sumatran tigers remain on the island.
About 40 people were killed by tigers on Sumatra between 2000-2004, according to the the Jambi nature conservation agency. In September 2006, a man was killed by a Sumatran tiger in western Sumatra. According to Kompas daily, the mutilated body of a 30-year-old carpenter was found in a forest in Dharmasraya Regency in West Sumatra Province. ''The victim went to the forest with his two friends Thursday afternoon. His friends went home earlier and he stayed to look for some wood, but didn't return home,'' Arum Priyono, the regency's police chief, was quoted by the daily as saying. Source: Kyodo, September 30, 2006]
Kyodo reported: “The man's body was found by villagers who later saw a Sumatran tiger pass near the scene. “Priyono said Sumatran tigers are increasingly encroaching on villages due to the shrinking of their habitat from illegal logging and land clearing to open rubber plantations over the past few months. ''We hope that the West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency can set tiger traps so the endangered species can be saved and at the same time the villagers feel secure,'' he said. Loss of habitat also was blamed for a group of elephants to raid a village in Sumatra.
Sumatran Tigers Kill Six People in One Month in Eastern Sumatra
In January and February 2009, Sumatran tigers killed six people in Indonesia's Jambi province, including three illegal loggers. Reuters reported: “Authorities had trapped a female tiger believed to be behind three killings in the area in eastern Sumatra, but the capture had not stopped the latest killings, said Didy Wurjanto, head of the Jambi nature conservation agency. [Source: Reuters, February 23, 2009]
In one incident, a tiger attacked and killed a man carrying logs near an illegal logging camp, Wurjanto said. Two other loggers in the same area were mauled and killed the day before. “Preliminary findings suggested the attacks were taking place because people were disturbing the habitat of the tigers, Wurjanto said. “"It is not common for tigers to attack humans, especially in Jambi," Wurjanto said, noting that forest rangers had been deployed to try and find the tiger or tigers. “Forest clearances, killings due to human-tiger conflict, and illegal hunting for the trade in their parts, have led to tiger numbers halving to an estimated 400-500 on the Indonesian island from an estimated 1,000 in the 1970s, conservationists said.
Associated Press reported: “A Sumatran tiger mauled two illegal loggers to death in western Indonesia, bringing to five the number of people killed by the critically endangered cats in less than a month, a conservationist said. The tiger attacked a 50-year-old man and his 18-year-old son while they slept next to a pile of stolen wood in a protected forest on Sumatra about 600 kilometers west of Jakarta, said Didy Wurdjanto of the state conservation agency. Three people were killed in two separate attacks in late January in the area. Park rangers last week trapped an adult tigress believed responsible for the deaths and it was being relocated. [Source: Associated Press, February 22, 2009]
“In some cases the animals roam into villages or plantations in search of food, setting the stage for a conflict with humans. In the latest attack, however, the animal had not strayed from its habitat so there would be no effort to catch and relocate it, said Wurdjanto. "This time it was the loggers' fault," he said.
Villagers Attacked by Tigers
In one incident in February 2009, Rabai Abdul Muthalib, 45, a rubber tapper was ambushed near a river, and few days later, Suyud, 50, and his son, Imam Mujianto, 21 were killed when a tiger pounced through the thin roof of their hut. Associated Press reported: “The beast devoured the brain, heart and liver of the youngest victim, spreading terror through surrounding villages. [Source: Zakki Hakim, Associated Press, March 2, 2009]
“For villagers — who have locked themselves up after dark, shuttered stores, and canceled prayers in the mosque from dusk to dawn — it was a relief when the tiger was caught. Though some support plans to relocate the animal into a jungle far away, others wish the rangers would just shoot it. Many worry there may be more tigers out there.
“Among the most traumatized is Efrianto, a 28-year-old villager who survived January's midnight attack on his uncle, Suyud, and cousin, Mujianto, by kicking a hole through the wall of their hut and running for help. Conservationists said it was disturbing — and rare — that the tiger ate one of the victim's remains. Normally, Sumatran tigers avoid humans, but if they do kill a man, they usually leave the corpse untouched. The tiger catchers saw the unusual behavior as a sign of how desperately hungry the tigress must have been. "There's no place for its prey to live here, all the land has been converted into oil palm plantations," said Nurdin, the Nature Conservation Agency official, as he surveyed churned-up wasteland and neat rows of trees.
Sumatran Tigers Kills Three Farmers in One Month in 2019
In mid December 2018, Sumatran tiger killed an Indonesian farmer, police said, in the third fatal attack by the critically endangered species in less than a month. AFP reported: “The 55-year-old was set upon by the big cat at a coffee plantation in South Sumatra province. Authorities said the dead man's companion screamed in vain to warn him about the approaching predator. "All of sudden, the tiger pounced on the victim," local police chief Ferry Harahap told AFP. [Source: AFP, December 13, 2019]
“The deadly attack comes just a week after a tiger killed another farmer in nearby Pagaralam. Tigers mauled to death another coffee farmer and seriously injured two Indonesian tourists in separate incidents in the province in November. “Local conservation agency official Martialis Puspito blamed human encroachment on the endangered animal's habitat for the spate of attacks, adding that residents were being warned to steer clear of the wilderness. "We cannot drive out the tigers because the jungles are their habitat so it's people who have to stay out of there," he said.
The earlier mauling near Pagaralam city in Sumatra prompted authorities to warn residents against going into local forests. AFP reported: “The coffee farmer's body was found by relatives who grew worried when he failed to return home, according to authorities. "At first the victim's family thought that he had spent several nights in a hut on the plantation," local police chief Dolly Gumara told AFP. “The search party found the victim with a tiger prowling nearby, he said. [Source: AFP, December 6, 2019]
In November 2019, a Sumatran tiger mauled to death a coffee farmer and seriously injured an Indonesian tourist in the same part of Sumatra. AFP reported: The fatal attack happened at the farmer's coffee plantation. The 57-year-old wrestled with the big cat before it killed him, according to Genman Hasibuan, head of the South Sumatra conservation agency. "The farmer was attacked while he was cutting a tree at his plantation," he told AFP. The mauling came a day after the same tiger attacked a group of Indonesian tourists who were camping at a local tea plantation in South Sumatra's Mount Dempo region. One of the tourists was rushed to hospital for wounds to his back after the cat stormed into his tent, Hasibuan said. The animal, which remains loose in the protected-forest area, is believed to be one of just 15 critically endangered tigers in South Sumatra. [Source: AFP, November 18, 2019]
South Sumatra saw five tiger attacks in 2019, including two fatal incidents. In March 2018, a man was killed by a tiger in Sumatra's Riau province while several months earlier a tiger also killed a plantation worker in the area. “Human-animal conflicts are common in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago, especially in areas where the clearing of rainforest to make way for palm oil plantations is destroying animals' habitats and bringing them into closer contact with people.
Five Men Stuck in a Tree Surrounded by Sumatran Tigers for Four Days
In July 2023, AFP reported: “Five Indonesian men have been trapped in a tree for days after being chased into its branches by Sumatran tigers, who mauled a sixth man to death. Four of the animals were still surrounding the base of the tree following their initial attack, which they launched after the men accidentally killed a tiger cub. [Source:, AFP July, 7, 2013]
The men entered the Mount Leuser National Park in the north of Sumatra island searching for rare incense wood, district police chief Dicky Sondani said. "The wood is very expensive ... but they run a risk looking for it as they have to go to more remote parts of Leuser where there are many tigers and elephants," he said.
The men set up traps for deers and antelopes for food – but accidentally trapped and killed a tiger cub. The adult tigers reacted by attacking the men. They killed a 28-year-old identified only as David, but the five others took refuge up a tree, Sondani said. "Four tigers are still surrounding the men under the tree," he added.
Thirty rescuers including police and soldiers set out on Saturday to rescue the men after villagers who tried to help them turned back after seeing the tigers. But the rescuers would take two to three days to reach the men, Sondani added. "If the tigers remain under the tree, we may have to shoot or sedate them to rescue the five people," he added.
The Leuser ecosystem is home to around 5,800 of the remaining 6,600 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans as well as elephants and tigers, but it is threatened by commercial logging and clearance for palm oil plantations.
Threats to Sumatran Tigers
Sumatran tigers are threatened by loss of habitat, primarily due to logging and deforestation in Sumatra, and poaching for Chinese medicine. An estimated 33 are killed every year. Stuffed ones were available not long ago on online auctions for $2,500. According to Korean immigration statistics, 8787 pound of tigers bones was imported from Indonesia between 1970 and 1993. A tiger normally produces around 20 pounds of tiger bones.
Zakki Hakim of Associated Press wrote: “Their habitat is disappearing at an alarming rate, with 667,000 acres of lowland forests being cleared annually, mostly for palm oil, which is used in cosmetics and candy but also to make "clean-burning" fuel for markets in the U.S. and Europe. Other culprits are loggers and mining companies, whose projects limit mating grounds, leave remaining tiger populations isolated and scattered, and chase off the majestic cats' prey. "You can't expect tigers to become vegetarians," one conservationist said. "They need meat and humans trespassing their territory are relatively easy targets."[Source: Zakki Hakim, Associated Press, March 2, 2009]
“The biggest threat to conservation is conflict with humans, according to a recent report by the Forestry Ministry. On average, five to 10 Sumatran tigers have been killed every year since 1998, the report said. "At this rate, they will soon be extinct," said Hariyo Wibisono of Harimaukita, an alliance that coordinates 15 state agencies and tiger conservation groups.
“Sometimes the animals are killed by frightened villagers, other times by poachers who sell their carcasses for trophies or to supply a growing demand for tiger bones in traditional medicine. A poacher can get $3,300 for a dead tiger — what some people in this impoverished nation of 235 million make in a year — but Nurdin said trafficking operations are almost impossible to crack because they involve syndicates. "Only the well-connected would dare to buy such things," he said, noting that the last person they caught trying to sell a carcass was a soldier.
“At the present rate of deforestation, there will eventually be no safe place to release the captured tigers. So international wildlife experts are working with the government to come up with a 10-year conservation strategy. They want palm oil and other companies to either help monitor the activity of tigers on their property or, better yet, put aside some land as a sanctuary for wildlife. "For years, we fought against land conversion, but it did not work," said Wibisono, of the tiger conservation alliance. "We had to try a different approach."
Sumatran Tiger Poisonings
In June 2020, two Sumatran tigers were poisoned in one week on Sumatra, Indonesian conservation officials said. AFP reported: Authorities said in both cases locals likely targeted the tigers for attacking their livestock, underscoring the increasing human-animal conflict in the Southeast Asian archipelago. In one case, the conservation agency in South Aceh said it found the carcass of a tigress near a farm. "There weren't any hunter traps or physical wounds and we suspect (it) was poisoned," said agency chief Hadi Sofyan, adding that an autopsy was being conducted. [Source: AFP, June 29, 2020]
In the other case the buried carcass of a male tiger was uncovered in North Sumatra's Batang Gadis national park with poisoning also the suspected cause of death. Locals, including a village head, said the killing was orchestrated by farmers who were angry the tiger had killed their livestock, a park spokesman said at the time. Around the same time a female tiger was relocated from a plantation in West Sumatra.
“Conflicts between humans and animals in Indonesia often happen in areas where rainforests are being cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. “Indonesia is battling rampant poaching which accounts for almost all Sumatran tiger deaths, according to TRAFFIC, a global wildlife trade monitoring network.
In October 2013, An Indonesian court in Banda Aceh sentenced two army officers to up to three months in jail for illegally possessing dead Sumatran tigers. Associated Press reported: The soldiers were found guilty of violating the country’s 1990 Law of Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystem by possessing the protected animals, Purnomo said. “Rawali, who like many Indonesians uses one name, was sentenced to three months in jail, and Rianto received a two-month sentence. Rawali was also fined $230, while Rianto was fined $450. “It’s believed to be the first time Indonesian soldiers were convicted of illegally possessing dead protected animals. [Source: Associated Press, October 24, 2013]
Bulldozers Drive Out Sumatran Tigers
Richard Lloyd Parry wrote in The Times: “THE film is less than two minutes long, but the story it tells is chilling. A male Sumatran tiger, unmistakable with its rippling stripes and loping gait, strides towards the camera, which has been hidden by environmentalists in the heart of the Indonesian forest. The film cuts to a week later — and a scene of devastation. A yellow bulldozer is trundling on caterpillar tracks across a field of bare earth cut through the dense forest where the tiger was seen sniffing just a few days earlier. It is development like this — with the aim of establishing a palm-oil plantation in a protected area of forest, according to campaigners — which has made the Sumatran tiger the creature most at risk among a critically endangered species. [Source: Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times, October 14, 2010]
“The film, released by the environmental group WWF in Indonesia, was shot by an automatic heat-sensing camera in May, in the Bukit Betabuh region of Riau province, on the huge island of Sumatra. Increasing contact between tigers and humans — farmers, loggers and hunters — is taking a heavy toll on the giant cats. "Because of its status, both as a protected area and limited production forest, the area cannot be developed as a palm-oil plantation," said Ian Kosasih, of the WWF. "Therefore any forest clearance — including bulldozing activities to clear the path — strongly indicates this excavation was illegal. The law should be enforced in this matter."
Tiger Catchers in Sumatra
Reporting from Sungai Gelam in Sumatra,Zakki Hakim of Associated Press wrote: Indonesia's tiger catchers have a double job — protecting humans from tigers, and tigers from humans. The elite teams of rangers and conservationists rush to the scene every time villagers report attacks or sightings of Sumatran tigers. First, they calm the people. And then, if there are signs the animal is nearby, they return with steel cage traps, live bait, heat-sensitive cameras and other equipment to capture the magnificent beasts.[Source: Zakki Hakim, Associated Press, March 2, 2009]
This time Sartono, who at 40 has spent nearly half his life in the job, arrives with his six-member squad at a remote oil palm plantation in Sungai Gelam district, 375 miles west of Jakarta, knowing they'll have to act fast. Three people have been killed in less than a week.“Sartono knows if he and his team cannot put a quick end to the killing spree, residents will shoot or poison the Sumatran tiger.
“The tiger catchers' job is to trap the animals, carry out health checks, fit them with GPS tracking collars and then release them back into national parks or other protected areas. On a scorching Sunday afternoon, an adult tiger charges out of dense jungle brush and then suddenly retreats into the shrubbery. Slowly, as Sartono aims his cocked rifle at the trembling bushes, the squad walks backward. "I was afraid, who wouldn't be!" the veteran tiger catcher later says with an uneasy laugh. "We might have experience, but we don't have superpowers!"
“After the beast manages to bite off the head of a goat used as bait, the squad finally snags her. When they pull up to the site in their green pickup truck on day eight, they find a tigress six feet long — excluding the tail — crouched in the trap. First she is calm, then she explodes, growling and throwing her 180-pound body against the steel bars. "Easy, easy, we're here to save you," whispers Nurazman Nurdin of the Nature Conservation Agency, as the crew carefully approach the tigress, which has since been named Salma.
“Often they come back empty-handed, but this time, not long after beginning their intensive foot patrol through palm oil plantations and peatland forest, they have good reason to feel optimistic.They find and snap photos of fresh paw prints and, together with experts from the Zoological Society of London, start repositioning their traps around the rugged Makin Group's palm oil plantation. They use a young dog and a goat as bait but place the animals in interior cages to protect them.For the next few days, they hike beneath the equatorial sun, their clothes soaked in sweat, in search of clues, while other team members interview witnesses and check out rumors of more attacks and sightings.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.
Last updated February 2025