Can We Save the Sumatran Tiger?

Year 5 and 6 – Can We Save the Sumatran Tiger?

The Zoo Project – The Illegal Wildlife Trade

Name______Class ______

Vocabulary Check

Throughout this sequence of learning write a definition of the language below to clarify your understanding in the context of the topic. subspecies solitary nocturnal ambush commercial curtailing mitigate agricultural growth poaching coexist stealthy consumer producer

Moral dilemma Farmers’ Meeting You are a poor farmer in a village in the town of Sumatra, Indonesia. A predator has arrived that is slowly killing all your livestock and destroying your livelihood. Later on, you will come together for a meeting of local farmers to debate and decide what to do. What will you do about this monster?

In a group, role play a debate in the local farmers’ meeting discussing what you will do about this problem.

Taking into account all the points you discussed during your debate, and the new information you have been given, write an informal letter to your farmer friend reaching a conclusion to solve the issue that is ruining your livelihood.

______

savage vulture predator livestock monster livelihood menace capture ensnare imprison

ing the information given and a map key, outline the ‘Tigers of the World’ and whether they are endangered or endangered are they whether and World’ the of ‘Tigers the outline key, map a and given information the ing

Us Begin by populating the word map with the 7 continents and 5 oceans. 5 and continents 7 the with map word the by populating Begin endangered. critically

The Sumatran Tiger

Tigers are the LARGEST of the big cats, and the largest carnivorous land mammal in the world.

Their natural habitat extends across Asia from Russia through to Sumatra and Indochina. Of the nine subspecies of tiger, three are already extinct – Bali, Caspian and Javan.

Sumatran tigers are the smallest of the subspecies. They have webbed paws, which means that they are brilliant swimmers and they often take to the water to cool off. Their stunning coats of orange and black stripes are unique to each animal and help them to camouflage by breaking up their body shape. Sumatran tigers have stripes which are closer together than other tigers.

They are solitary animals, only coming together to mate. Gestation takes about 100 days from mating to birth, and baby tigers will remain with their mothers for up to 2 years. A litter can be between 1 and 7 cubs.

Sumatran tigers are found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They live in tropical or evergreen forests, grasslands and mangrove swamps, coexisting with an abundance of species, including the Orangutan, the Javan Rhinoceros & Sumatran Elephants, seemingly harmoniously.

Tigers are carnivores usually hunting at night about once a week, making them a nocturnal species. As strong and stealthy predators they ambush their prey, which usually consists of wild pigs or water buffalo.

There are only 200 Sumatran tigers left in the wild.

Clearing of native forests for agricultural growth and poaching for body parts are the two primary factors leading to a mitigating decline in the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) populations.

Most tigers in Sumatra are killed deliberately for commercial gain. According to a survey from TRAFFIC, the global wildlife trade monitoring network, poaching for trade is responsible for over 78% of estimated Sumatran tiger deaths— amounting to at least 40 animals per year. Despite intensified conservation and protection measures in Sumatra and the apparent global success in curtailing markets for tiger bone, there is no evidence that tiger poaching has declined significantly on the island since the early 1990s. Although it is illegal to hunt Sumatran tigers, this has not stopped the poaching of these animals for tiger products. China is considered the largest consumer and producer of manufactured products containing tiger parts, though tiger bones and other tiger products have been found in Taiwan and South Korea, and in North American cities. HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT Habitat destruction forces tigers into settled areas in search of food and where they are more likely to come into conflict with people. Human-tiger conflict is a serious problem in Sumatra. People have been killed or wounded, and livestock fall prey to tigers. Retaliatory action by villagers can result in the killing of tigers. The Sumatran tiger is considered to be a ‘critically’ endangered species.

Let’s Quiz Answer the following questions to test your knowledge so far.

1. In what part of the world will you find the Sumatran tiger? ______

2. Describe the tiger’s natural habitat in the wild. ______

3. What is meant by the word coexist? ______

4. Describe the Sumatran tiger’s appearance and how this aids survival. ______5. Why may a Sumatran tiger find itself close to the inhabited villages? ______

6. Why may the poor farmers of Indonesia consider killing a tiger, even though they are a critically endangered species? ______

Scan the QR code and respond to the following questions.

Can We Save the Tiger?

Martin Jenkins

Why do people hunt tigers?

Why don’t tigers mix well with humans?

Why do people hunt tigers?

Why do tigers need a lot of space?

Can we save the tiger? Compare and Contrast

Natural habitat Artificial habitat

Location Tiger facts (continent, country, climate and (anatomical features) surrounding seas)

Habitat (physical features)

natural habitat thinking about the physical features in the environment. the in features physical about the thinking habitat natural

Sketch and label a Sumatran tiger’s tiger’s a Sumatran label and Sketch

Using our trip to Chester Zoo, sketch and label a Sumatran Tiger’s habitat in captivity. in habitat Tiger’s a Sumatran label and sketch Zoo, Chester to our trip Using

State the similarities between the two habitats. ______

What are the differences between the habitat in the wild and the one in captivity? ______

Is it ever right to keep animals in a confined space? Explain your answer. ______

What are the benefits of the Sumatran tiger being kept at Chester Zoo? ______

Explore the items given and place them in the correct column depending on whether you think the items on in demand or not.

In Demand No Sale

What did your findings tell you about the illegal trade of tiger products and why? ______P4C

Who is to blame?

Dear Diary ______Taxonomy of Tiger Products

‘It was a taxonomy of tiger products, showing pictures

of the bone, eyes, whiskers, blood. The book described

the parts as a “precious crude medicine,” whose

medicinal use in China traced back more than 1,400

years. But as China’s economy grew, the animal’s mythical qualities — none of which are substantiated by modern medicine — ignited a market for tiger products that, the book said, “sold well domestically and abroad.”

So well, in fact, that within years of the book’s 1979 publication, a country as vast as China estimated it had only a few dozen tigers left, and something needed to be done. The Chinese government passed a law that banned killing endangered species in the wild while encouraging their “domestication” and breeding. The idea was that the farms would expand the tiger population, sating demand for tiger products while protecting those in the wild. But that wasn’t what happened. Instead, demand exploded further, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who’s studied the industry, inciting rampant poaching of wild tigers all over Asia and ushering in an era of “catastrophic consumption.”’

Using the information given, create your own Chinese Taxonomy of Tiger Products and their ‘medicinal values’.

How does it make you feel to read this information? ______Taxonomy of Tiger Parts

Animal Part Health Benefits

Tigers will be hunted for as long as there is a demand!

Read the above statement and discuss

UPDATE: Nov. 12, 2018 China has postponed implementing new regulation that would have allowed the use of tiger bone and rhino horn by hospitals, and domestic trade in antique tiger and rhino products. “WWF welcomes the news that China has postponed lifting its ban on the domestic trade in rhino horn and tiger bone, signaling a positive response to international reaction,” said Margaret Kinnaird, WWF’s wildlife practice leader. “Allowing trade from even captive animals could have had devastating impacts on wild rhino and tiger populations. This move helps maintain the leadership role China has taken in tackling the illegal wildlife trade and reducing market demand.”

China has previously demonstrated leadership in support of the conservation of wild tiger populations. The government has already undertaken considerable efforts to recover its tiger population in the northeast region of the country by recently establishing the Tiger and Leopard National Park—1.6 times larger than Yellowstone National Park in the United States. "It is important to send a strong message that the value of wild populations of tigers and rhinos and their ecosystems is much greater than the value of their parts and horns,” Kinnard said.

In an enormous setback for wildlife conservation, China announced it will allow hospitals to use tiger bone and rhino horn from captive-bred animals for traditional medicine. The decision reverses a decades-old ban that has been instrumental in preventing the extinction of endangered tigers and rhinos.

“China’s decision to reopen a legalized trade in farmed tiger bone and rhino horn reverses 25 years of conservation progress in reducing the demand for these products in traditional Chinese medicine and improving the effectiveness of law enforcement,” said Leigh Henry, director of wildlife policy, WWF-US. “This devastating reversal by China runs completely counter to the image of wildlife champion the world had come to expect with China’s ivory trade ban, which was such a positive development for the world’s elephants.” WWF urgently calls on China to not only maintain their 1993 ban on tiger bone and rhino horn trade, but to also extend it to cover trade in all tiger parts and products, regardless of whether they’re from captive- bred or wild animals.

The new regulations say hospitals can obtain parts from captive facilities within China—excluding zoos— where tigers and rhinos are bred for commercial purposes. Experts estimate that more than 6,500 tigers live in China’s tiger farms, far outnumbering the roughly 3,900 remaining in the wild.

The 1993 ban significantly curbed the demand for tiger and rhino parts from what has long been considered the worlds’ largest consumer market for such products. Over the years, China has taken significant steps to implement and enforce this ban through public education campaigns, promotion of effective substitutes for tiger and rhino medicines, and strengthening law enforcement. Allowing the legal market for such parts to resume will be detrimental to conservation efforts, potentially fuelling the demand for these products and increasing poaching of wild tigers and rhinos.

China has been a leader in the conservation of majestic species such as elephants, and WWF is optimistic that the country will recognize its role in the illegal tiger and rhino trade and maintain the ban.

Embassy of the People's Republic of China 49 Portland Place, London W1B 1JL Date:

______

Test your partner on the following questions and discuss the answers collaboratively.

1. What are the 3 main reasons Sumatran tigers are critically endangered? 2. Which continent do the remaining wild tigers live on? 3. Why are Tigers poached? 4. What is meant by the word ‘consumer’ and ‘producer’? 5. In what conditions would the Sumatran tiger usually live in, in the wild? 6. Why are tiger parts still ‘in demand’? 7. Do you have sympathy for the poacher? Why? 8. What recent movement in China has put tigers at even further risk? 9. Which word, meaning, preferring to be alone, did we use to describe the Sumatran tiger?

Can We Save the Sumatran Tiger? ______