Habitat Destruction and Fragmentation

The deforestation of Sumatra’s forests is another major factor of the Sumatran tigers’ decline. Between 2000 and 2012, nearly 20% of their habitat was destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is the world's most widely used vegetable oil, found in everything from chocolate to cosmetics. Its rapid growth in demand has resulted in massive deforestation.

As the forests disappear, so does the connectivity between tiger populations. Although these cats are solitary in their nature, they still require occasional interaction with others to mate and maintain a healthy genetic pool. When habitats are fragmented, tigers become isolated, leading to inbreeding and weakened populations that cannot cope with changes in the environment.

Human-Tiger Conflict

As agricultural expansion continues to extend and force itself deeper into Sumatra’s wilderness, tigers are increasingly coming into contact with human settlements. With their natural habitat shrinking, some tigers venture into villages and farms in search of food, sometimes preying on livestock. In retaliation, local farmers and villagers kill the tigers. They view them as dangerous threats to their livelihood.

Between 2000 and 2016, at least 130 Sumatran tigers were killed due to human-wildlife conflict. Unless urgent steps are taken to establish wildlife corridors and implement more efficient livestock protection strategies, these conflicts will continue to escalate, pushing the species to extinction.

Declining Prey and the Impact of Disease

A tiger’s survival depends on the availability of prey, but even this is under threat. Wild boar, the primary food source for Sumatran tigers, has experienced a dramatic population decline in recent years due to an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF). First detected in China in 2018, the disease spread rapidly across Asia, reaching Sumatra and devastating wild boar numbers. By 2021, multiple cases had been reported across all provinces of the island, throwing the delicate food chain into complete disarray.

With fewer wild boar to hunt, tigers are forced to seek alternative food sources, sometimes having to resort to targeting livestock or venturing into human settlements. This only further increases the risk of potential conflict between tigers and humans arising, creating a dangerous cycle that puts both the animals and local communities at risk.

Conservation Efforts

A large majority of the remaining Sumatran tigers inhabit reserved locations and national parks that are protected by anti-poaching patrols led by the park rangers. These efforts provide an absolutely essential layer of security, yet despite being within these designated safe areas, the threat of illegal hunting unfortunately persists.

In a new approach to conservation, Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, has also turned to religion for assistance. In 2014, the country's highest religious authority issued a fatwa, or religious decree, against poaching. Conservation groups have since applied this decree to raise awareness, noting that not only is it illegal under domestic law to kill Sumatran tigers but also forbidden under religious principles. By connecting conservation to moral values, this program has helped to shift public opinion and strengthen the moral argument against poaching.

In addition to law enforcement, sustainable conservation is also being pursued to safeguard tiger habitats and support the local communities. Conservation efforts are focused on avoiding deforestation and habitat loss further through sustainable land use and strengthening legal protection for tigers and increasing penalties for poaching and trafficking. In addition, community development programs aim to provide alternative sources of livelihood for those who would otherwise engage in poaching based on economic necessity, in order to keep people from being forced to make a decision between their survival or conservation.

Conservation has also been done through captive breeding programs outside Indonesia. These programs allow researchers to study Sumatran tiger breeding, genetics, and behavior. This allows them to gain and contribute knowledge that can be applied to the conservation of wildlife animals. Breeding programs alone cannot save the species, but they offer a potential lifeline for developing genetic diversity and healthy populations for possible future reintroduction.