More danger for Sumatran tigers

Jae Jae, London Zoo's male

Tigers have become the poster child for endangered species in recent years, with Sumatran tigers in particular being hailed as one of the most endangered species on the planet. Palm oil plantations, amongst other things, have seen their habitat massively reduced, and what little habitat is left is heavily at risk of poaching or conflict between these animals and local human settlements.



The ball park figure often thrown around for the number of Sumatran tigers left in the wild is around 300. The Bali tiger and Javan tiger, from the same group, are already extinct. Just as the public were becoming aware of the severity of the plight of these animals, they've been dealt another blow in the form of plans to build a road through their habitat.

There are plans to build a 50km road through the Harapan (which translates as "hope") Rainforest, to aid in the delivery of coal to power stations across South East-Asia. British conservationists from the RSPB have been working in the area due to the prevalence of bird species there. Conservationists in the area say that the construction of the new road is entirely unnecessary, as sufficient access routes to the power stations currently exist.

Melati, the female Sumatran tiger at London Zoo

If built, the road would remove 154 hectares of forest (equivalent to around 154 rugby pitches), but would cause even more damage by splitting the remaining forest into two, separating the habitat of the tigers and many other animals, as well as providing poachers easier access to central parts of the forest which were previously inaccessible to them. Currently, around 40 tigers a year are poached, so the building of this road could, literally, be the death of them.

For more information about the RSPB's work in the Harapan Rainforest, click here.