These habitats are under growing strain. Roads, oil palm estates, and settlements have cut once-continuous forest into isolated fragments, with Sumatra losing nearly 30% of its cover between 1990 and 2015. In some pockets, fewer than 20 tigers remain, heightening the risk of inbreeding.Â
"The erosion of large wilderness areas pushes Sumatran tigers one step closer to extinction,"Â warns Matthew Luskin, who has studied forest fragmentation across the island.Â
Logging and agricultural expansion also deplete prey species such as deer and wild boar; densities in logged forests can fall by more than half. Hungry tigers are more likely to stray into croplands and villages, setting the stage for conflict. Between 2010 and 2020, WWF Indonesia recorded more than 100 cases of human-tiger encounters across the island.
The breaking apart of Sumatra's forests lies at the heart of every threat to the tiger. Plantations of palm oil and acacia, along with mining concessions, have eaten into once-continuous jungle, leaving behind isolated fragments where the animals cannot survive for long. Each new clearing narrows the space in which a tiger can hunt, breed, and roam.
On the ground, the dangers are more immediate. Poachers still set their snares to feed a black market hungry for skins, bones, and fangs, despite years of enforcement. In 2022 alone, nearly two hundred wildlife crime operations were carried out across Indonesia, with tigers often among the targets. And as the forests thin, the animals move closer to people. Goats and cattle vanish from villages at night, and sometimes a tiger itself appears on the forest edge. These encounters bring fear and loss, and too often they end with casualties on both sides.
The Fight for the Future
If the tiger disappears, the consequences will ripple through the entire ecosystem. Without a predator to keep them in check, wild boar and deer populations could grow rapidly, raiding farmers' fields and stripping the forest floor of young trees, reports Mongabay in 2021, echoing findings from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Such changes would slow natural regeneration and weaken the forests that also shelter Sumatran elephants, rhinos, and orangutans, according to the WCS Indonesia and The Jakarta Post in 2017.
To counter this, Indonesia has launched the Sumatran Tiger Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (SRAK), which designates priority landscapes for long-term protection (Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia). On the ground, international conservation groups play vital roles. WCS Indonesia operates Wildlife Crime Units and trains law enforcement to dismantle poaching networks. WWF conducts ecological research and helps communities mitigate conflicts with tigers. Fauna & Flora International (FFI) partners with villages to secure habitat and maintain corridors of forest.
In the forests of Sumatra, new tools are reshaping how conservationists track and protect tigers. Camera traps capture their movements silently, allowing scientists to count individuals without disturbing them. DNA tests from scat and hair reveal genetic health and help map family lineages. While on patrol, rangers use the SMART app to record and map illegal activities in real time, helping identify hotspots and guide teams to the areas where they are most needed, WCS Indonesia reports.
Although more traffickers are being caught, the fight against the illegal trade remains difficult. Penalties handed down by the courts are often light, offering little to discourage repeat offenders or organized networks, according to TRAFFIC and a 2022 report in The Conversation.
In the Shadows, Hope Still Stripes the Forest
