Indonesia's Rare Wild Tigers Won’t Have to Change Stripes

Ismira Lutfia, The Jakarta Globe 22 Jan 10;

Lampung. After a lengthy rehabilitation process, two Sumatran tigers were released into the jungle on the southern tip of Sumatra island on Friday, on the newly declared National Day for Wildlife Conservation.

Panti, a six-year-old tigress, and Buyung, an eight-year-old tiger, are now roaming free in the 385,000-hectare Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, joining an estimated 45 Sumatran tigers remaining there.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan pulled the rope that opened the cages, marking their release after 18 months of rehabilitation at a tiger rescue-center at the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation.

“Massive deforestation has decreased the tigers’ natural habitat and has prompted human-tiger conflicts when they would roam into villages in search of food,” Zulkifli said.

The Tambling Conservation, which comprises 45,000 hectares of the park, has been home for Panti, Buyung and four other members of the critically endangered species since they were relocated from South Aceh, where they were captured by villagers. The tigers had been kept in cages at the Aceh nature conservancy office before they were moved to Lampung.

Buyung and Panti — whose name is a shortened version of her species’ Latin name, Panthera tigris — ran off in different directions when their cages were opened, quickly disappearing into the bush.

Chips were implanted into the tigers to allow the monitoring of their movements.

Earlier on Friday in Jakarta, Vice President Boediono declared January 22 National Day for Wildlife Conservation.

“Giving room to rare species is our task together,” he said during the declaration at the Vice Presidential Palace.

The release of the tigers into the wild comes a few days after the government revealed a plan to offer rare Sumatran tigers for adoption by citizens.

Tiger “adoption”— where a pair can be rented out as pets in exchange for a Rp 1 billion ($107,100) deposit — could help curb illegal hunting and trade, a Forestry Ministry official said on Friday.

“There is much demand from rich people who want them, who feel that if they own a tiger they are big shots. We have to take concrete steps to protect these animals,” said Darori, the ministry’s chief of forest protection and nature conservancy.

The tiger “renters” would be required to allow quarterly visits by a team of vets, animal welfare officers and ministerial staff. They would also be required to provide the tigers with cages of minimum dimensions: five meters high, six meters wide and 10 meters long.

The animals would come from captivity.

Darori acknowledged that he had already received complaints about the plan from 12 environmental organizations.

“So we have invited them for consultations before we continue with this plan. If we can agree, it will be put into practice as soon as possible,” he said.

Environmental activists have criticized the plan, saying it was a wrong approach to saving the tigers from extinction.

Greenpeace’s forest campaigner, Bustar Maitar, said the plan was tantamount to selling off the tigers.

“It shows the government is not serious about addressing the real issues threatening Sumatran tigers. They need to stop issuing forest concessions,” he said.

Only about 400 Sumatran tigers are believed to be left in Indonesia. Deforestation has destroyed much of their native habitat and they are hunted for traditional medicines and illegal menageries.

With additional reporting from Reuters and Camelia Pasandaran

Tigers freed despite protests from NGOs, villagers
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post 23 Jan 10;

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Friday released two Sumatran tigers from the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation (TWNC) in West Lampung, despite strong objection from environmentalists and community members.

Before releasing them at TWNC, located within the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (TNBBS), forestry officers attached collars linked to GPS around the Sumatran tigers' necks to monitor their movement. The collars have been designed to fall off in two years.

The GPS collar will submit data every eight hours to supervision stations located in six places: the TNBBS center in Tanggamus, the Biological Diversity Directorate in Jakarta, the Safari Park in Bogor, the TWNC in West Lampung and two monitoring stations in the Arta Graha building in Jakarta.

The tigers, named Buyung (age seven) and Panti (five), originated from Aceh. Only one tiger currently remains at the TWNC tiger conservation center, a 4-year-old tiger named Ucok.

In July 2008, businessman Tomy Winata took five tigers from Aceh, which were believed to have attacked residents in Aceh. They are named Agam, Pangeran, Buyung, Panti and Ucok. Agam and Pangeran were released into the wild by then forestry minister M.S. Kaban at TWNC on July 22, 2008.

Minister Zulkifli said the condition of the forest where the two tigers were released was strong compared to other areas in Lampung and other parts of Indonesia. "Many animals of prey are found in the area, such as wild boars, deer and wild ducks. There's no need to worry about food shortage in the jungle," Zulkifli said.

Conservationists remain opposed to the tigers' release in the area that borders with human settlement. They blamed the government for neglecting the Belimbing community's rights.

"The tigers' release in TNBBS, which borders with the settlement of the Belimbing community, shows that the government and the Lampung administration cannot protect their citizens," Lampung chapter Traditional Communities Alliance (AMAN) head Ichwanto M. Nuh said.

Belimbing clan head in Pengekahan Khusairi Gelar Raja Muda, 51, said members of the traditional community refused to move from the area because they had proof of land rights in the forested area. "During Kaban's tenure as minister, he promised to relocate us to a safer area. However, the relocation of 164 families, or 500 people, has not occurred," he said. West Lampung Regent Mukhlis said hundreds of residents had been living in Way Haru village since 1942. Although they live within the national park, the government has recognized their village as a legal enclave.

"They cannot be categorized as squatters because they lived in the area before it was mapped and included within the TNBBS. However, efforts to ask the minister to issue an approval to relocate residents have been in vain," Mukhlis said.

Tomy Winata set up the TWNC in 2003. It has since been managed by PT Adiniaga Kreasindo, Tomy's subsidiary company. He obtained a concession to manage around 30,000 hectares of the TNBBS as a tiger conservation area. According to Tomy, his company informed residents not to live within the TNBBS long before the arrival of tigers from Aceh.

"I have even built a school and community health center for villagers. I have not received profit from running this place for the past five years. Instead I've spent Rp 500 million *US$50,000* each month for operational costs," Tomy said.