Cons 200: Wiki Page: Malayan Tiger Conservation

Background and Characteristics

The Malayan Tiger originates from the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Its scientific name is Panthera Tigris Jacksoni, with the exception of within Malay, in which it is called Panthera Tigris Malayensis . Despite its being one of the most prolific of the tiger subspecies, the Malayan Tiger is still endangered. The tiger can be found throughout Malaysia and parts of Thailand. They typically live in less dense jungle areas where there tends to be a high food supply.

Malayan Tigers are apex predators and have no natural predators in the wild. Despite sitting at the top of the ecological food chain, Malayan tigers still face a great deal of danger from human activities.

Malayan Tiger -b

Physical Characteristics

The Malayan Tigers are a relatively small subspecies of Tigers. Males typically weigh around 120 kilograms and reach about 235 centimeters from head to tail. Meanwhile, females typically weigh around 100 kilograms and are usually 2 meters long. .

As a nocturnal animal, the Malayan tiger has extremely good eye-sight at night. This gives them an important advantage as they hunt for prey. This characteristic combined with their camouflaged pelage make them very efficient predators .

Behavioral Characteristics

They are nocturnal animals, which means that they spend most of their day sleeping or traveling across their territory. They do not tolerate another tiger of the same sex within their territory. Additionally, male tigers typically control a larger area of territory. Malayan Tigers are fantastic swimmers and will often spend many hours in shallow water bodies during the daytime .

Diet

The Malayan tiger is a dominant and carnivorous predator, hunting its prey by stalking it until the Malayan tiger has the opportunity to catch it off guard. Malayan tigers primarily hunt larger mammals including deer, wild boar, cattle and goats.

Family structure/Lifestyle:

The Malayan Tiger usually lives for 15 to 20 years. The cubs will usually stay with their mother until they are around 18 months old. At this point, they will leave their mother and live an independent life. Tigers are solitary creatures and will usually live and hunt on their own .

MalayanTiger

After a gestation period of 3 to 4 months, the female Malayan tiger gives birth to up to 5 cubs. Newborn Malayan tiger cubs weigh about 1 kg (2 lb) and are blind and helpless. The mother feeds them milk for about 2 months and then the Malayan tiger cubs are introduced to meat.

The Current Situation

Current Population Estimates

The Malayan Tiger is listed as critically endangered by IUCN red list of threatened species. The best available evidence indicates that there are approximately 250 mature Malayan Tigers left in the world. The estimated population in Malaysia continues to decline. Roughly 3000 tigers were present in the 1950's compared to 250-340 in 2013 .

Reasons for Decline in Population

There are a number of underlying reasons why the Malayan Tiger population has been declining so drastically. The Malayan tiger has no natural predators but human activity and development in the peninsula has had severe consequences on local wildlife and specifically the Malayan Tiger.

• Loss of Habitat
• Poaching
• Decline in Prey

Loss of Habitat

Southeast Asia has some of the highest levels of deforestation in the world. Malaysia in particular, is known for being a hot-spot for deforestation. The Malayan tiger species is therefor threatened by significant loss of habitat and fragmentation. It is estimated that 1.35 million acres of natural forest areas within the Malay Peninsula were lost between 1988 to 2000. Out of this area, 0.83 million acres was considered to be appropriate habitat for tigers. Almost half of the forest area that was lost during this period, was converted into tree plantations. Tree plantations have become even more frequent during the years 2000-2012 and will be a major issue going forward. Oil palm plantations have been the primary driving force for this change but rubber plantations are an emerging threat.

City Rainforest, Johor Bahru

The Habitat of Malayan tigers has declined from the original area of 98,818 squared kilometers prior to the 1970's to 75,079 squared kilometers in 1980 and 55,387 squared kilometers in 2000. This represents an average loss of 1.51% between 1980 and 2000. In 2010, only 15% of all tiger habitat was located in government protected areas. Forests that are located outside protected areas are continuously targeted for agricultural development. Policies implemented by the Malaysian cabinet in 2005 continue to represent a major problem for conservation efforts in Malaysia. The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities were asked to design a plan to develop forest plantations throughout the country. This aggressive program means that tree plantations are being established throughout the country through the conversion of private/state owned forests (Including reservations). The Malaysian government continues to subsidize these kinds of initiatives and habitat loss is expected to continue in the coming years. Tigers require significant space to themselves due to their isolated nature. Studies also show that they need around 50 large prey animals per year. Finding habitat that satisfies all these factors is becoming increasingly difficult in the Malay Peninsula. .

Poaching

Historically, Tigers have been hunted for sport and due to the perceived danger the pose to humans. Many people argue that the main threat that tigers face today is the sales of illegal poaching and sales of tiger parts throughout the world. Tigers are mainly demanded because of their bones (Used in many traditional Asian medicines) and their pelts and other body parts (Teeth, skin and claws) as decorative items. Tigers are also occasionally killed for their meat. Another important consideration is that they are increasingly being seen as a symbol of status in some regions of Asia . Organized crime groups have become increasingly involved in the illegal poaching and trade of endangered species in these regions. This has made the problem even more complex and difficult to eliminate. Some local Asian populations also believe that eating the meat will allow them to absorb some of the tigers strength .

Decline in Prey

The loss in appropriate habitat has effected the animals that Malayan Tiger prey on as well. Loss of prey means that conditions are less appropriate for the Tigers to thrive and increase in numbers. Fewer prey also means that the tigers are forced to inhabit greater areas of territory. Given that tigers require exclusive territory, this becomes problematic.

Female Sambar Deer

In 2016, Malaysia re-enforced the ban on hunting Sambar deer which they claim is the preferred prey of Malayan tigers. These deer's have also been targeted by poachers. Malaysia claims that a effort to reduce all poaching will have very beneficial ecosystem effects .

The Current Conservation Strategy

CITES

All tiger species are included under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species Appendix Section 1. This means that Tigers are recognized as species that are threatened with extinction. As a result of this, any trade of Tigers or Tiger derived products are completely banned by international law.

Malaysia's 12 Year Plan

As members of the MYCAT group, a number of independent wildlife organizations (Including the World Wildlife Fund) worked closely with the Malaysian government to come up with the National Tiger Action Plan. The plan aims to have 1000 Malayan Tigers living freely in the Peninsula by 2020. This plan represented the first concrete steps by the Malaysian government to increase the number of tigers in the area rather than just taking measures to slow down the population decline .

The plan includes a number of key steps and ideas that aim to boost Tiger populations in Malaysia.

• Officials and conservationists will restore and manage important jungle corridors that connect different tiger habitats. This will give the tigers a wider range of territory while reducing the impact of human development on the tigers natural habitat.
• Enforce wildlife laws more effectively.
• Remove tigers from areas where they might come into contact with humans.
• Increased scientific research.

World Wildlife Foundation- Malaysia's Tigers Alive Project

This project was initiated after the completion of the World Wildlife Foundation's work to complete human-tiger conflict in Terengganu in 2003. The simple goal of the project is to manage and improve protection of tiger populations and important habitat regions. The project is an important part of the National Tiger Action Plan. The project focuses on the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex as well as the larger Banjaran Titiwangsa (Main Range) landscape. The objectives of this project include reducing poaching activities, conducting scientific monitoring on the population dynamics of tigers and their prey, raising awareness and reducing human-tiger conflicts through community engagement and educational programmes, ensuring forest connectivity, as well as monitoring land-use changes in tiger landscapes and communicating the cause and effects of human activities on nature to everyone . The efforts of carried out by WWF-Malaysia can be split into three major components:

• Protection
• Monitoring
• Community Engagement

Deer Hunting Ban

In 2016, the Malaysian government renewed a six year hunting ban regarding Sambar deer. This is a move specifically designed the help save the Malayan Tiger, officials announced in a statement. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that "Sambar Deer is the main prey of the tiger" and "There are only 700 to 1000 Sambar Deer left in the Peninsula and if these were to die, the tiger would be forced to hunt other prey". He expressed concerns that this could include other animals or even human beings. Environmentalists generally agree that there is a clear correlation between the number of Sambar Deer in the Malayan Peninsula and the number of Tigers. Deer meat can cost 40 to 60 Malaysian Ringgit on the black market and illegal hunting of these animals has been a concern for government officials. In the statement, Dr Wan Junaidi also stated that those who are found breaching these rules will have their gun licenses removed .

Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg

2010 represented the year of the tiger on the Lunar calendar. In November of this year, a "Tiger Summit" was held in St Petersburg, Russia to discuss future preservation and conservation strategies. The 13 Tiger Range Countries were present at the meeting and adopted a Global Tiger Recovery Program. This summit was attended by a number of heads of state including Russia, China and Bangladesh and represents a major commitment for all countries involved. The goal was to effectively double the number of wild tigers by 2022. This was to be done through a number of steps :

• Preserve, enhance and protect their habitats.
• Eradicate poaching, smuggling and illegal trade.
• Engage with local communities.
• Improve the overall effectiveness of the habitat management.
• Restore Tigers to their former range.

World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick also attended the conference. He has been a consistent advocate for Tiger preservation and has pushed for the world bank to invest significant funds into conservation and refusing to invest in infrastructure in areas that are considered to be Tiger habitat .

CAITS

CAITS stands for Conservation Assured I Tiger Standards. It is a system that was developed by tiger and artificially protected area experts. It aims to promote the best practices for protected area management in Asia. It was officially launched in 2013 and is a crucial part of the worldwide goal to double tiger populations from 2010 to 2022. CAITS contains a number of important criteria that will allow sites to check if their strategies are likely to lead to successful tiger conservation. The system contains 7 crucial pillars of critical management activities :

• Status
• Management
• Community
• Tourism
• Protection
• Habitat Management
• Tiger Populations

Sites that are approved by the governing body demonstrate excellence in all areas of tiger site management. Malaysia was the first country in Southeast Asia to successfully register for a CAITS (Through WWF-Malaysia). The site was registered on the 10th of April 2017 in the Royal Belum State Park in Perak .

MYCAT

The Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT) is an alliance of non-government organiations comprising the Malaysian Nature Society, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society- Malaysia Programme and WWF-Malaysia. It also includes the government Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Through the use of the MYCAT organization, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks organized the Malaysian Tiger Conservation Workshop in November 2006 hoping to formulate a National Tiger Conservation Plan for Malaysia . This plan then served as a blueprint for future conservation efforts in the country.

MYCAT has implemented a hotline to report tiger related criminal activity. They have also helped organize "Cat Walks" where citizens patrol in zones known for tiger poaching. MYCAT does a great deal to campaign for wildlife in Malasia. They were also a part of the formulating the International Trade in Endangered Species Act in 2008 .

Captive Breeding Programs

Some Zoo's throughout the world have started captive breeding programs to protect the species. There is a huge breeding facility located in Malaysia to increase tiger populations. These tigers are then sent to zoos throughout the world to help keep them safe. The number of cats produced from this program is relatively low due to the amount of testing that needs to be done to ensure that the tigers can safely mate .These programs have criticized for many of the same reasons that Zoos in general have received a number of criticisms in recent years.

Evaluating Effectiveness of Current Strategy

The non-profit organization MYCAT has stated that is is impossible for Malaysia to meet their goals of doubling tiger populations by 2020. In fact, in 2018, the tiger population is estimated to be around 250-340 tigers. Clearly, efforts to increase the population of tigers in Malaysia as outlined in the Tiger Action Plan have not been successful.

Recommendations

What can the Malaysian government and International Environmental organizations do to help aid the preservation of Tigers in the modern world? What can individual citizens and local communities do to make sure they play their part in the conservation of these animals?

Recommendation 1: Harsher Punishments

The Malaysian government needs to enforce harsher punishment for breaches in domestic and international law regarding poaching and illegal trading of endangered animals. In a country with geographically centered poverty and social issues, they need to send a clear message that expolitation of endangered wildlife for personal gains will not be tolerated. In order to deter large scale poaching operations, much harsher laws are needed and much harsher enforcement of those laws are needed.

On December 7th 2016, Wong Chee Leong was sentences to $23,000 USD in fines for illegally possessing a Tiger carcass in an oil palm estate in Perak. He will face one year in jail if he fails to pay the fine. The law states that for this offense, he can ebe fined between $23,800-119,000 USD and up to five years in jail. TRAFFIC research shows that from 2001 to 2015, around 103 tigers have been seized in Malaysia. 2016 in particular was a very troubling year as six tigers were lost in the begging of the year and later two tigers skins, eight tiger teeth and 17 tiger claws were seized from traffickers . The fact that the minimum punishment possible was chosen is a clear indication from the government of Malaysia that they are not planning to increase enforcement of these laws and has been widely criticized by many environmental organizations. “A one-month jail term for transporting a dead national symbol on a motorbike sends an extremely worrying message to would-be offenders. What this case shows us is that we have our work cut out for us; it would be easy to give up but this is the last thing we should do,” said Kanitha Krishnasamy, Acting Regional Director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia. The highest prison sentence ever given out in this area was in 2012 when 22 Tigers (Plus several Elephant tusks) were seized. The offender was given 24 months in jail as well as fines of $66,700 USD .

Recommendation 2: Increasing Awareness of the Issues

International environmental organizations are investing a great deal of resources and manpower into increasing awareness regarding these issues. However, I believe that the focus needs to be changed slightly in order to reach a larger number of people. Efforts need to be concentrated on local populations that are within a close proximity to tiger areas. Conservation issues need to be incorporated more thoroughly into local school curriculum.

Conservation issues are easy for people to disregard in their decision making due to the seeming hopelessness of the situation and the minimal personal impact from breaches. Education is the only tool we have to combat these instincts and the power of human greed.

Recommendation 3: Increased Funds for Patrols and Enforcement

Due to the nature of the nature of illegal sales of endangered species, increasing punishments and awareness may not be enough to deter sales. The sales of these goods is very demand driven and prices are extremely high. For poor citizens in countries like Malaysia, the temptation of this money will be too much for a large number of individuals. Therefor, it is very important that local and international organizations invest heavily on patrols in danger areas and invest significant funds into catching criminals.

Mirroring the work of Panthera

Panthera (Global Wildcat Organization) and Woodland Park Zoo from Seattle established a $1 million partnership in 2012 to enhance conservation practices in Malaysia. This is a part of Panthera's wider program called the "Tigers Forever Program". Through collaborating with local citizens and environmental organizations, the program identifies tiger habitats and mitigate threats. The main threats the organization focuses on are habitat fragmentation and poaching. Two local Malaysian non-profits called Rimba and Pemantau-Hijau oversee long term research and ecology as well as protection efforts. This includes training rangers in anti-poaching methods and providing new law enforcement techniques. The main responsibilities of Panthera and Woodland Park Zoo is to provide financial assistance and expertise. Through this program, Rimba assisted the government in setting up nearly 200 camera traps in threatened areas. Meanwhile Pemantau-Hijau monitored human activities and evaluated anti-poaching efforts .

Mirroring this model for increased funding would be hugely beneficial. Malaysia is likely to have a number of conflicting goals regarding this issue. The Malayan Tiger is a national symbol and conservation of this species is a priority for the Malaysian government. However, Malaysia can't carry the financial burden of this problem on their own given the huge level of spending that is required. This system allows international citizens to donate to the cause and allows for direct tangible results to be observed in the domestic tiger population. It harnesses private initiative and increasing international understanding regarding conservation issues which I believe will be the driving force for change in human actions and attitudes in the coming years.

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