European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

EAZA Tiger Campaign 2002/4

Target projects: Project 3

Ranging Patterns in Sumatran Tigers in Altered Landscapes, Jambi, Sumatra

A substantial fraction of the wild Sumatran tiger population lives in unprotected areas containing altered habitats, such as oil palm plantations. The plantations attract tigers because they can, under some management regimes, support high densities of wild pigs, a common prey species for Sumatran tigers. There is, therefore, potential for plantation land to act as wildlife corridors between forested areas, if managed appropriately.

Sumatran tiger © Matt Linkie

Conditions for co-existence between tigers and people are also favourable, as plantation workers tend to work in groups and live in centralised locations, with little subsistence farming or livestock.

Work in an oil palm plantation in Jambi province was begun in 2001 by the Zoological Society of London and PT Asiatic Persada, the owners of the plantation. It has already been discovered, using cameratraps and tracks, that several tigers regularly use the plantation land and the adjacent logging concession.

There are as yet no data on home range characteristics of tigers in Sumatra; studies of this type have been done only in Russia and the Indian sub-continent This study will enable the researchers to closely assess ranging patterns and social interactions in this subspecies, which could be extremely important to tiger conservation in Sumatra. It will also be very helpful to the project's underlying goal of establishing management protocols for oil palm plantations that will allow them to act as wildlife corridors.

The project will:

Use radio telemetry to monitor tiger movements and assess home range size and habitat use of tigers in this area. Based on the findings from camera traps and spoor surveys, it is thought that eight to ten tigers regularly use the plantation land, including up to three breeding females. A remote-controlled dart gun will immobilise the tiger and a collar will be fitted. Up to eight tigers will be collared and their locations will be recorded on a daily basis.

Use the data to develop and implement habitat management practices in and around palm plantations to minimise human-tiger conflict. The frequency with which the tigers use different habitats will be compared to habitat availability in order to assess habitat preferences.
Use the data to assess the requirements for effective corridors between forested areas for tigers in Sumatra.