Leuser International Foundation, Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia.
Yayasan Hutan Harimau, Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 24;14(1):23612. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-75503-0.
Conservation of threatened species is dependent on consistent population monitoring. We present the first status assessment of critically endangered Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) and their prey in the Ulu Masen Ecosystem, Aceh, Indonesia. Our estimates of tiger habitat use are the first reported for a Sumatran ecosystem unprotected at the national level. During 6,732 trap nights accumulated over 23 months of camera-trap monitoring in 2020 and 2022, tigers were detected 39 times at 16 of the 52 stations. We identified 11 individual tigers but sex ratios were highly skewed: 8 males, 1 female, and 2 individuals of unknown sex. Cubs were not photographed either year and we did not observe evidence of tiger reproduction. Tiger habitat use (Ѱ = 0.52, SE = 0.15) was negatively influenced by human disturbance and positively influenced by elevation but those associations were not significant. Our study documents a widespread prey base but uncovers demographic characteristics of tigers indicative of heavy poaching pressures. We conclude that tiger-targeted protection is urgently needed to ensure the species' persistence in Ulu Masen which, together with the adjacent Leuser Ecosystem, represents the largest contiguous tiger conservation landscape remaining in Sumatra.
保护濒危物种依赖于持续的种群监测。我们首次评估了印度尼西亚亚齐省乌鲁马森生态系统中极度濒危的苏门答腊虎（ Panthera tigris sumatrae ）及其猎物的状况。我们对老虎栖息地利用的估计是首次在国家层面未受保护的苏门答腊生态系统中报告的。在 2020 年和 2022 年的 23 个月的相机陷阱监测中，累计使用了 6732 个陷阱夜，在 52 个监测站中的 16 个站，老虎被检测到 39 次。我们确定了 11 只老虎个体，但性别比例严重失衡：8 只雄性，1 只雌性，2 只个体性别未知。这两年都没有拍摄到幼崽，也没有观察到老虎繁殖的证据。老虎栖息地的利用（Ѱ=0.52，SE=0.15）受到人类干扰的负面影响，以及海拔高度的积极影响，但这些关联并不显著。我们的研究记录了广泛的猎物基础，但揭示了老虎的人口特征，表明存在严重的偷猎压力。我们的结论是，迫切需要针对老虎的保护措施，以确保该物种在乌鲁马森的生存，乌鲁马森与相邻的勒塞尔生态系统一起，代表了苏门答腊现存最大的连续老虎保护景观。
