Why are sumatran tigers endangered?
According to the WWF, the Sumatran tiger population may be fewer than 400. Others have given the sub-species lower estimates. Nevertheless, all agree that more than half have disappeared since a 1978 census estimated their numbers at 1,000, leaving Sumatran tigers critically endangered. Why? Deforestation ranks high amongst threats to Sumatran tigers. Sumatra’s increasing agricultural development and extensive logging over the last several decades has usurped the island’s lush forests for human use. As a result, says the WWF, “there is little to no interchange and gene flow between the separated tiger populations.” Reserves are isolated and fragmented. Prey is depleted. Per the WWF, approximately “67,000 km² of forest was lost in Sumatra from 1985 to 1997, most of this being lowland rainforest, and the annual rate of forest loss has been increasing across Indonesia.” Likewise, poaching is a serious problem. All tiger sub-species have been hunted since ancient times. Per the WWF, “tiger
