Believed To Have Gone Extinct In 1970s, Scientists Are Looking To Find Javan Tigers Still In The Wild
Authorities and conservationists in Indonesia have launched a search mission to find Javan tigers in the wild.
The Javan tiger, one of the three subspecies of tigers native to Indonesia, along with Balinese and Sumatran tigers was listed as extinct in 2008 by the IUCN Red List.
Javan tigers have not been seen in the wild since the 1970s and are believed to have become extinct because of poaching and increasing conflict with humans.
Are javan tigers really extinct
However, things changed in 2019 when a local resident reported a Javan tiger sighting in a plantation in a forest near Sukabumi City in West Java province.
A hair was taken from a fence where the big cat was alleged to have jumped, and footprints and claw marks were found.
Scientists from Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) along with conservationists discovered genetic traces of the Javan tiger in the hair, according to a study published by Cambridge University Press last week
The tiger hair shared similarities with Sumatran and Bengal tigers but was distinct from other tiger subspecies, the researchers said.
How Indonesia is looking for Javan tigers
This has reignited hopes that a small population of Javan tigers could still be there in the wild.
"The research has sparked speculation that the Javan tiger is still in the wild," Satyawan Pudyatmoko, the ministry official who oversees conservation, told Reuters. "We have prepared and will prepare efforts to respond to it."
Measures include setting camera traps around the area and seeking advice from genetics experts, he added.
"If, for example, it is proven that it still exists, it will certainly become a protected animal. It is the obligation of all parties, including the society, to participate in preserving their population," he said.
Tigers in Indonesia
Indonesia was once home to three subspecies of tigers -Javan, Bali and Sumatran tigers. Out of this Javan and Bali tigers have been declared extinct. Only the Sumatran tiger remains, and with fewer than 400 believed to be in the wild, it is also considered critically endangered.
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