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

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.

Moral

dilemma

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savage vulture predator livestock

monster livelihood menace

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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?

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

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3. What is meant by the word coexist?

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4. Describe the Sumatran tiger’s appearance and how this aids survival.

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5. Why may a Sumatran tiger find itself close to the inhabited villages?

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6. Why may the poor farmers of Indonesia consider killing a tiger, even

though they are a critically endangered species?

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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

(continent, country, climate and

surrounding seas)

Tiger facts

(anatomical features)

Habitat (physical features)

Sket

ch a

nd

lab

el a

Su

mat

ran

tig

er’s

nat

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State the similarities between the two habitats.

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What are the differences between the habitat in the wild and the one in

captivity?

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

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

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Explore the items given and place them in the correct

column depending on whether you think the items on

in demand or not.

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

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In Demand No Sale

P4C

Who is to blame?

Dear Diary

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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?

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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:

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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?

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