Sumatran Tiger

Mammals

Class:

MAMMALIA

Order:

CARNIVORA

Family:

FELIDAE

Scientific Name:

Panthera tigris sumatrae

Where it lives:

Distribution and Habitat:

It lives in Asia, in the tropical forests of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Size

The tiger is the largest existing feline. Among the six existing tiger subspecies, the Sumatran tiger is the smallest. An adult male Sumatran tiger weighs around 130 kg, and the body length can exceed 2 meters.

Behavior

Tigers are solitary animals; males and females in fact meet only for mating. Unlike other felines, the tiger is a skilled swimmer and can cross wide rivers. It marks its territory with urine, feces, or other secretions and by scratching trees, bushes, and rocky walls. This marking provides other tigers with information about their identity, sex, and reproductive status.

Reproduction

Mating can occur throughout the year. After a gestation period of about 3 months, 2 to 3 blind cubs are born, weighing around 1 kg each. Nursing lasts 6-8 weeks, after which the cubs begin to follow their mother in hunting and start eating meat. They catch their first prey at around 18 months of age and remain with their mother for 18-28 months.

Diet

The Sumatran tiger feeds on medium-sized ungulates and occasionally preys on birds, fish, rodents, amphibians, reptiles, primates, and domestic livestock. It ambushes the prey hiding in tall vegetation, thanks to its camouflage coat. It can eat up to 18 kg of meat at once and needs about 50 medium-sized prey per year. Hunting mainly occurs at night.

Did You Know?

The pattern and distribution of stripes on the coat are unique to each tiger, much like human fingerprints.

Threat Level

The Sumatran tiger is one of the 6 existing subspecies of the 9 that inhabited our planet at the beginning of the 20th century, when around 100,000 tigers lived in Asia compared to the 3,300-6,500 today. With about 400 individuals remaining in the wild, the Sumatran tiger is one of the most endangered subspecies. The main threats consist in habitat loss and the illegal trade of its beautiful fur and other body parts, used in traditional oriental medicine for their alleged therapeutic and aphrodisiac properties. Additionally, humans hunt deer and wild boar, the tiger's main food sources, causing the tiger to approach livestock and consequently conflict with farmers.

LEGEND

CITES: The species is protected by the Washington Convention – also known as CITES – which regulates international trade in wild fauna and flora species. CITES is an agreement among over 160 governments that, through international and national laws, regulates or even prohibits the export, import, sale, and possession of many species and their derivatives such as skins or ivory.
EEP/ESB: The species is part of a European conservation program coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), of which the Bioparco is a member. The EEP (Eaza Ex Situ species Programme) includes various actions such as captive breeding for potential releases into the wild, public awareness, and scientific research. The European studbook (ESB) is an inventory aimed at monitoring the status of individuals of a particular species in captivity and generally precedes the EEP.
RED LIST IUCN: The species is included in the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). This is the most comprehensive inventory that codifies the degree of threat to species globally based on a system of categories and scientifically rigorous quantitative criteria.