Reflection : Perut bumi dikosongkan, hutan dibabat, hasil hutan lenyap, harimau pun turut dilenyapkan. Rakyat mayoritas hidup senin kemis miskin melarat. Tetapi, para petinggi NKRI baik sipil maupun militer bertambah kaya raya, Masyalloh! Tidak ada keuntungan apa-apa.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/will-our-last-tigers-survive/361322
March 01, 2010
Tasa Nugraza Barley
Will Our Last Tigers Survive?
TasIt's not just the Chinese who are celebrating the Year of the Tiger - the
World Wildlife Fund has launched its own 2010 Year of the Tiger campaign to
protect the endangered big cat.
The goal? To double the number of tigers living in the wild by 2022, the next
Year of the Tiger.
According to WWF figures, the number of the wild tigers has fallen by more than
95 percent over the past 100 years, leaving only 3,200 tigers in the world
compared to 100,000 in the early 1900s.
For the current campaign, the WWF is working with countries that have wild
tiger populations. Tigers can be found in Asia's remaining forests, living in
countries across the south, southeast and east of the continent.
WWF Indonesia launched the campaign here on Feb. 12, focusing on the protection
of Sumatran tigers.
Desma Murni, communications manager for the forest and species program at WWF
Indonesia, said that of the original nine tiger subspecies in the world, three
were now extinct - the Caspian, Bali and Javan tigers. The remaining tiger
subspecies are Siberian, Bengal, Indochinese, Sumatran, South China and
Malayan.
"It's a shame that we have lost two tiger subspecies in Indonesia," Desma said.
Based on research conducted by a number of institutions, including the WWF, the
Bali and Javan tigers vanished in the 1930s and 1970s, respectively, due to
aggressive hunting by humans.
Sumatran tigers, the only remaining wild tigers in Indonesia, live in the
jungles of Sumatra Island, from Aceh in the north to Lampung in the south.
But there are only around 400 of these tigers remaining in the wild and the WWF
has classified them, along with the South China tiger, as "critically
endangered," meaning that immediate steps must be taken to prevent their
extinction.
"We've lost two tiger subspecies [in Indonesia] and we definitely can't afford
to lose the Sumatran tigers too," Desma said.
The Sumatran tiger is the smallest subspecies of tiger at around 2.5 meters
long. Males usually weigh from 100 to 140 kilograms, while females weigh from
75 to 110 kilograms.
Desma said WWF Indonesia had implemented a range of programs to save the
Sumatran tiger, including cooperating with city governments to restore national
parks in forest areas.
WWF Indonesia said it would use the Year of the Tiger campaign to garner
greater support for its programs from private companies and the public.
"Public workshops will be conducted during 2010 to educate people about the
importance of saving Sumatran tigers," Desma said.
She said WWF Indonesia would also work to educate the legal sector about how to
better respond to wildlife crimes. The group will help train police officers,
customs officials and prosecutors to respond to they types of crimes.
"Many law enforcers still don't understand how to classify such a crime or how
to handle it," Desma said.
She said immediate action was needed to check the decline in the Sumatran tiger
population, but warned it wouldn't be easy.
"That's because their jungles have been badly damaged and people still hunt
them," she said, adding that the continued loss of natural habitat meant wild
tigers didn't have enough prey to hunt.
"Because the jungle keeps shrinking, these tigers often accidentally enter
villages where people will kill them because they are seen as a threat," she
said.
During the campaign launch, musician Nugie said people could take simple
actions to help save the Sumatran tiger. "An environmentally friendly attitude,
such as limiting the use of paper will help prevent the destruction of the
forests," he said. "That way, we can all help protect the tigers."
Desma said she was confident that despite the many challenges, the Sumatran
tiger could be saved from extinction. She said there was strong evidence that
the tigers would breed if they had enough food and a habitat safe from hunters.
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