Sumatran tiger
Hiding among tall grasses and shoots of bamboo, the Sumatran tiger is barely visible. Its striped pattern gives it the perfect camouflage to sneak up on large prey such as buffalo, deer and tapirs. But the forests in which the tiger hunts are rapidly disappearing due to the construction of new cities and plantations. That's why Rotterdam Zoo is helping to protect this critically endangered big cat from catastrophe.
15 years
60 centimeters
2.1 – 2.5 meters
♀ 75 – 110 kilograms
♂ 100 – 140 kilograms
Sumatran tigers are large, sturdily built felines. Armed with strong jaws and sharp, retractable claws, they are built like true hunters. Between their toes they have a kind of "webbing" which also makes them agile swimmers. Of all eight tiger subspecies, the Sumatran is the smallest.
As the name implies, Sumatran tigers are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. There they live in tropical rainforests and tall grasslands. Today, this habitat is quite fragmented. That means they occur in disconnected areas. As a result, tigers from different areas cannot reach each other.
Sumatran tigers are territorial animals. This means that they have a consistent habitat which they protect from other tigers. The territory contains enough prey to hunt: therefore, the size of the territory also depends on how many prey animals live there. To mark their territory, tigers urinate against trees and rocks near the edge. When other tigers smell that, they know to stay away. The territory of males often overlaps with that of a few females, so they can mate with several females.
Fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers currently remain in the wild. These live in areas that are becoming smaller and smaller due to the expansion of cities and agriculture. This also causes the tigers to come into contact with humans more often. For example, in the absence of prey animals, tigers attack livestock. To protect themselves and their livestock, Sumatran people often shoot tigers. In addition, tigers are hunted for their claws, skins and bones, which some people, wrongly, believe have medicinal powers. All of these dangers have meant that this large feline is now critically endangered.
Tigers are very important to their environment, because they are at the top of the food chain. By hunting large herbivores, they ensure a healthy balance of animals and plants in their territories. Because tigers live in large territories, protecting the tiger's habitat has an added benefit: all the other animals and plants in those territories are thereby protected as well. Such a species is also known as an "umbrella species": it proverbially holds up an umbrella for other life forms to protect them from human threats.
The tiger enclosure at Diergaarde Blijdorp consists of two outdoor enclosures and two indoor enclosures, which can be connected. If there are two tigers, they usually stay apart: after all, in the wild they also live solitary. The bamboo on the edges of the enclosure gives them lots of hiding places. So they can't always be seen. Diergaarde Blijdorp contributes to the European population management program to ensure a healthy reserve population in zoos.
