Abstract
Although translocation has been used in mitigating human-carnivore conflict for decades, few studies have been conducted on the behavioral ecology of released animals. Such information is necessary in the context of sustainable forest management. In this study we determine the type of land cover used as main habitat and examine the activity pattern of translocated tigers. Between 2008 and 2010 we captured six conflict tigers and translocated them 74-1,350 km from their capture sites in Sumatera. All tigers were fitted with global positioning system (GPS) collars. The collars were set to fix 24-48 location coordinates per day. All translocated tigers showed a preference for a certain habitat type within their new home range, and tended to select the majority of natural land cover type within the landscape as their main habitat, but the availability of natural forest habitat within the landscape remains essensial for their survival. The activity of male translocated tigers differed significantly between the six time intervals of 24 hours, and their most active periods were in the afternoon (14:00-18:00 hours) and in the evening (18:00-22:00 hours). Despite being preliminary, the findings of this study-which was the first such study conducted in Sumatera-highlight the conservation value of tiger translocation and provide valuable information for improving future management of conflict tigers.
Highlights
The sumateran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae Pocock, 1929) is the only subspecies of tiger still remaining in Indonesia, after 2 of its relatives, the bali tiger (P. t. balica) and the javan tiger (P. t. sondaica) were declared extinct in the 1940s and 1980s, respectively (Seidensticker et al 1999)
This research was conducted from July 2008 through August 2011 in four locations of tiger translocation in Sumatera, i.e. Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) in the Province of Lampung, southern Sumatera; Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP) and Ulu Masen Ecosystem (UME) in the Province of Aceh, northern Sumatera; and Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) in the Province of West Sumatera (Figure 1)
Tiger BD-1, which was translocated to UME and observed for 213 days (6,680 position data points), was found dead due to a snare trap on farmland at the edge of the forest, after its global positioning system (GPS) collar worked for 7 months
Summary
The sumateran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae Pocock, 1929) is the only subspecies of tiger still remaining in Indonesia, after 2 of its relatives, the bali tiger (P. t. balica) and the javan tiger (P. t. sondaica) were declared extinct in the 1940s and 1980s, respectively (Seidensticker et al 1999). Sumateran tigers are distributed all over the island of Sumatera, but they live in isolated populations (Wibisono & Pusparini 2010). In Sumatera, conflict between humans and tigers has become a major problem in tiger conservation, due to its effect in the form of loss of property and human life, which will decrease people's support for tiger conservation efforts. Such conflict is one of the factors which triggers people to hunt and even kill tigers (Nugraha & Sugardjito 2009)
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Schedule a callMore From: Jurnal Manajemen Hutan Tropika (Journal of Tropical Forest Management)
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