Sumatran Tigers

Cat family
Tigers are the biggest cats, and the Sumatran tiger is the smallest tiger. Once there were tigers on Java and Bali, but they are most probably extinct.

Physical features
The fur is short, reddish-yellow, and marked with black stripes.Their stripes camouflage them in their territory. The Sumatran tiger has the most stripes of any tiger species and have particularly long whiskers along their cheeks.

Habitat
Sumatran tigers live in jungles, in protected areas of the island of Sumatra.

Behaviours
Sumatran tigers are solitary animals, and both males and females mark their territories with urine and by scratching trees.Tigers are the only cats that choose to swim. Tigers hunt for their prey from dusk till dawn, and spend the days resting.They stalk their prey, trying to catch it by surprise. Tigers can run fast, but in short bursts only.

Food
Tigers feed on other animals and birds. They also scavenge any dead animals they find.

Reproduction
Sumatran tiger females are ready to breed when they are three years old, and they rear their young on their own.They are ready to mate for only a few days each year, in the dry season. After mating, the male leaves the female's territory.

Females are pregnant for about three-and-a-half months, before giving birth to a litter of about two or three cubs. The cubs suckle for about three months. They stay with their mother until they are about 18 months old, by which time they can hunt and kill their own food.

Conservation status
It is thought there are less than 400 tigers in the wild on Sumatra, where attempts are being made to protect this critically endangered species.

Reasons for their small numbers:
•They have been hunted for their fur, and other body parts considered to be medicine.

•Their habitat is being rapidly destroyed, cut down to plant palm plantations. Palm oil is used in many products. We should limit the manufacture of products containing palm oil.

Click here to see rare footage of Sumatran tigers in the wild, including some playful cubs. However, those tigers on the film are in danger of losing that habitat where they live and play.

If you use any part of this in your own work, acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Sydenham,S. & Thomas, R. Sumatran Tigers [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2010)

Photographs © [2007] Jupiterimages Corporation