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| Common Name: | Sumatran tiger | Family: | Felidae |
| Latin Name: | Panthera tigris sumatrae | Diet: | Carnivore |
| Type: | Mammal | Habitat: | Tropical rainforests |
| Native To: | Asia | Social Unit: | Various |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Critically Endangered |
Latest Tiger News From Edinburgh Zoo
Tibor our resident male has now been joined by Baginda a new female from Spain.
Eight year old Baginda arrived from Benidorm and has moved into her new home next door to Tibor. The two tigers are yet to meet, but are slowly getting used to the scents and sounds of each other.
When Tibor and Baginda meet in a few weeks’ time, we hope they’ll accept each other and become a breeding pair.
We are building up to the day they meet properly. We’ll swap the tigers between the two enclosures, so they get used to each other’s scent. They will them meet through a mesh patrician. If all goes well, they should spend some proper time together in six to eight weeks.
In the wild Sumatran tigers are critically endangered. There might only be 300 left in the wild. The birth of Sumatran tiger cubs would be extremely significant.
Sumatran tigers at Edinburgh Zoo
Sumatran tiger photo by
Edinburgh Zoo is home to a male Sumatran tiger. He was born in July 2007 and his name is Tibor. He came to us in October 2008 from Heidelberg Zoo, Germany. In March 2011 his sister Chandra left Edinburgh for a new home in Champrepus Zoo, France. At the end of May 2011 Tibor has now been joined by Baginda, a female sumatran tiger from Spain. Baginda was born in 2003 in Benidorm and will be introduced to Tibor in the next few weeks.
Shortly before arriving at Edinburgh Zoo, Tibor’s right eye was damaged. Despite treatment from an eye specialist at Edinburgh Zoo, the eye continued to deteriorate. In July 2010, vets confirmed that Tibor’s sight had reduced dramatically and he was now blind in this eye. He was also suffering from glaucoma (increased pressure inside the eye) due to chronic inflammation. Glaucoma is well recognised as being an extremely uncomfortable condition which is very painful in humans and animals. Due to these conditions, surgery was performed to remove Tibor's right eye. The surgery was felt to be vital in order to minimise the pain felt by the animal which could increase over time without of the cause of the inflammation being removed. Our vets are confident that he will make a full recovery and easily adapt to being single-sighted.
We are waiting for a recommendation from the European breeding programme to bring in unrelated tigers to breed with our tigers.
Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
The Sumatran tigers are currently housed in the big cat dens.
Sumatran tigers in the wild
The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is a subspecies that is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It lives in forest habitats in both lowland and mountainous areas.
The Sumatran tiger is the smallest of all tiger subspecies, and its stripes are narrower than those of other tigers. It also has a distinctive bearded and maned appearance, especially the males.
In the wild, Sumatran tigers prey on wild boar, Malayan tapirs and deer. They also prey on monkeys, fish, and birds.
Sumatran tigers are fast losing ground to many threats. Habitat loss, fragmentation and destruction are pushing tigers into smaller and smaller areas and closer to human habitations, making human-tiger conflicts more common. Habitat loss and fragmentation also makes the tigers’ prey food sources scarcer. Much of this habitat loss can be attributed to expansion of farming activities.
Poaching of tigers for illegal trade and traditional medicine is also rife in Indonesia due to the strong demand for tiger products in Indonesia and in other countries. Although there are some protected areas for the tiger on Sumatra and conservation efforts are continuing, many tigers are killed by poachers even within the protected zones—and sometimes even in zoos.
Estimates of the number of Sumatran tigers left in the wild are discouraging. A study in 2004 placed the number of Sumatran tigers in the wild at around 340 – 500. Because of the small number of Sumatran tigers remaining in the wild and the dire threats the species faces, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the Sumatran tiger as a Critically Endangered species. This means that the Sumatran tiger is considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Breeding programme category: EEP
IUCN Red List category: Critically Endangered
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