Although it is the national symbol of Malaysia, the Malayan Tiger has only about 150 surviving cats in the wild, Malaysia is trying to save the gorgeous animals. The small tiger is orange and black striped and are considered critically endangered by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). While the sambar deer, their dietary staple, is classified as vulnerable to extinction.

A perfect storm of other factors combined led to the IUCN designations.

Malayan tigers, like sambar deer, are hunted for sport. Habitat destruction by loggers, expanding palm oil plantations, fatal road accidents, and retaliatory killings due to livestock privation, are also at fault.

Habitat fragmentation is a serious problem for tigers who need large ranges to hunt in. Results include tigers being forced to crowd into marginalized lands, and then becoming subject to disease.   

The country has made sambar deer and tiger poaching illegal, but it is still big business. Sales of tiger parts are valuable in Chinese traditional medicine, and poachers come from other countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand travel to trap Malayan tigers.

Conservationist Mark Rayan Darmaraj told Al Jazeera News that in previous decades there were “only … isolated incidences of snaring, but [now] hundreds of snares have been detected in our forests. Many more remain undetected, as we cannot patrol the entire forest complexes intensively. Massive snaring by Indochinese poachers has the potential to wipe out large mammals within a relatively short period of time.”

Henry Chan, of World Wildlife Fund Malaysia called “the plight of Malayan tigers … a national crisis that requires the full attention and commitment of all”, CNN reported.

India’s Bengal Tiger Conservation

Many conservationists look to the success story of the Bengal tiger in India. In 1972 it was found that there were less than 2,000 tigers left in the wild in India. There were thought to have been about 40,000 at the turn of the century—a decline of about 95%.

Although India saw much subsequent tiger controversy, The Wild Life (Protection) Act, and Project Tiger has resulted in an estimated 1,000 more Bengals being born by 2023, according to the ZSL (Zoological Society of London).

In Malaysia, in 2009, there were thought to be 500 tigers in the wild. Malaysia then adopted the National Tiger Conservation Action Plan. With attempts to catch poachers by indigenous community members and veteran soldiers, why does it look like Malayan tiger numbers are plummeting?

Dr. Darmaraj, Country Director (Malaysia) at the Wildlife Conservation Society explained that the country has not reallocated comparable monies to tigers that India has. And in spite of the fact that the tiger is the symbol of their nation, he says there is still not the “political will” to save the Malayan tiger.

All tigers are endangered

Endangered tiger subspecies include: the Indochinese Tiger, the Siberian Amur Tiger, and the Bengal Tiger. As well as the Malayan Tiger, other tigers that are critically endangered, are: the South China Tiger and Sumatran Tiger. The Bali, Caspian and Javan Tigers are now extinct.

 

Sources

Malayan tiger teeters on ‘brink of extinction’ as spate of deaths sparks alarm. CNN. (2024, July 13). https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/13/asia/malayan-tiger-deaths-malaysia-extinction-intl-hnk/index.html

The Malayan Tiger, a Critically Endangered Species. HowStuffWorks: a System1 Property. (2024, June 7). https://animals.howstuffworks.com/endangered-species/malayan-tiger.htm

Malaysia: Is there still a chance to save the Malayan tiger: Fewer than 150 wild tigers remain in Malaysia’s forests, where 3,000 once roamed in the 1950s. WWF Malaysia. (2022, March 7). https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/7/malaysia-last-chance-to-save-the-malayan-tiger

Totally protect the sambar deer, or lose it forever. WWF Malaysia.(2013, August 28).  https://www.wwf.org.my/?16424/Totally-protect-the-sambar-deer-or-lose-it-forever

India’s successful Project Tiger could do even better, say experts. Dialogue Earth. (2023, July 26). https://dialogue.earth/en/nature/indias-successful-project-tiger-could-do-even-better-say-experts/

Endangered tiger numbers in India have risen to record high: Tiger conservation success in 2023

ZSL: Zoological Society of London. (2023, 14 April). https://www.zsl.org/news-and-events/feature/tiger-conservation-success-2023

Tiger Conservation Status Guide 2022. Project Endangered Tigers.(2021-22) https://endangeredtigers.org/tiger-conservation-status-guide-2022/