Indonesia Holds Firm to Controversial Rent-A-Tiger Plan Ahead of Conservation Meeting

Ahmad Pathoni Jakarta Globe 7 Jul 10;

Officials and conservationists from 13 countries are to meet in Bali next week to discuss efforts to double the population of endangered Indonesian tigers by 2022, the Indonesian government says.

The meeting, to be held on the Indonesian resort island on Monday and Tuesday, is expected to produce a draft Global Tiger Recovery Program, said Darori, the Forestry Ministry’s director general of forest protection and nature conservation.

That document would then be discussed at a summit of global leaders on tiger conservation in Russia in September, he said.

The draft would address the threats facing the world’s remaining tigers, including the Sumatran tiger, Darori said on Tuesday.

The meeting was expected to be attended by senior government officials from the 13 tiger-range countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam — as well as tiger experts and representatives from local and international groups.

The World Wide Fund for Nature said the global wild tiger population was estimated at 3,200, including 400 Sumatran tigers.

Darori said Indonesia was confident it could double the population of Sumatran tigers by 2022.

“With better law enforcement and the support of donors and partners, we will be able to achieve the goal,” he said. “It’s easier to breed tigers than rhinos.”

Indonesia has been criticized by conservationists for considering a scheme allowing rich people to adopt captive tigers to help curb poaching.

Under the plan currently being worked out at the Forestry Ministry, a pair of tigers could be rented against a deposit of Rp 1 billion ($110,000 dollars).

“People don’t understand that this is a realistic initiative,” Darori said. “Every day, there are people who request to adopt tigers.”

“They will take good care of the tigers” he said. “It’s better than allowing them to be killed by poachers.”

Of nine tiger subspecies, six exist today, according to the WWF: the Sumatran, Bengal, Amur, Indochinese, South China and Malayan tigers.

Threats to the tiger include habitat fragmentation and destruction, loss of prey, poaching and illegal trade.


DPA