6 min
PODCAST 09 "Read an English News" Viken's Podcast
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- Health & Fitness
Forest Fires Drive Sumatran tiger Out of Their Habitats
Indonesia, home to the Sumatran Tiger, joined celebrations on International Tiger Day, observed on July 25, to raise support for the conservation of tigers. The Sumatran tiger is the only surviving tiger in the country, and the smallest of the five tiger subspecies in the world. In the 1970s, the number of Sumatran tigers had reached some 1,000, though the figure decreased to 800 by the 1980s. Currently, the population is believed to be between 400 and 600 tigers.
In earlier days, Indonesia was home to three tiger species, including the Bali tiger, which became extinct in 1940, and the Java tiger, declared extinct in the 1980s. While environmentalists, experts and officials campaigned during Global Tiger Day, still, the few remaining Sumatran tigers have to struggle to survive, as Sumatra Island has been ravaged by hundreds of hotspots, similar to forest fires, since July 2019.
Riau Province on Sumatra Island has been the most affected by forest fires. Wildfires also broke out in the province’s Tesso Nilo, a 81,700-hectare national park, which is a habitat for critically endangered tigers and elephants. A video of a tiger running near the fence of the Chevron facility in Siak District, Riau, went viral in early August 2019. Head of the Riau BBKSDA (Natural Resource Conservation Office) Suharyono confirmed the receipt of information from Vice President External Affairs of Chevron Hasim M. Noor explaining that the video was taken by a security guard at Kilometer 5 of the eastern Trans-Sumatra road near Gathering Station (GS) facility 5 of Chevron in Minas. It was the first time that a Sumatran tiger was found roaming near the oil facility in the morning, Suharyono stated.
Forest Fires Drive Sumatran tiger Out of Their Habitats
Indonesia, home to the Sumatran Tiger, joined celebrations on International Tiger Day, observed on July 25, to raise support for the conservation of tigers. The Sumatran tiger is the only surviving tiger in the country, and the smallest of the five tiger subspecies in the world. In the 1970s, the number of Sumatran tigers had reached some 1,000, though the figure decreased to 800 by the 1980s. Currently, the population is believed to be between 400 and 600 tigers.
In earlier days, Indonesia was home to three tiger species, including the Bali tiger, which became extinct in 1940, and the Java tiger, declared extinct in the 1980s. While environmentalists, experts and officials campaigned during Global Tiger Day, still, the few remaining Sumatran tigers have to struggle to survive, as Sumatra Island has been ravaged by hundreds of hotspots, similar to forest fires, since July 2019.
Riau Province on Sumatra Island has been the most affected by forest fires. Wildfires also broke out in the province’s Tesso Nilo, a 81,700-hectare national park, which is a habitat for critically endangered tigers and elephants. A video of a tiger running near the fence of the Chevron facility in Siak District, Riau, went viral in early August 2019. Head of the Riau BBKSDA (Natural Resource Conservation Office) Suharyono confirmed the receipt of information from Vice President External Affairs of Chevron Hasim M. Noor explaining that the video was taken by a security guard at Kilometer 5 of the eastern Trans-Sumatra road near Gathering Station (GS) facility 5 of Chevron in Minas. It was the first time that a Sumatran tiger was found roaming near the oil facility in the morning, Suharyono stated.
6 min