The  Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)
In the early 1800’s tigers ranged over the whole island of Java
in Indonesia, but they were considered a nuisance. By the end of the
Second World War they had been hunted out in all but the most remote
mountainous and forested areas.
In the 1960’s many conservationists feared that the Javan Tiger
was extinct. Investigations of periodic 'tiger' sightings usually
proved to be leopards. In 1971, however, an isolated population was
confirmed in the Gunung Betiri, a magnificent, rugged mountain complex
in the SE part of the island. When the Javan tiger was re-discovered,
the area was declared a nature reserve by the Minister of
Agriculture.
The few forest guards assigned to Gunung Betiri could not adequately
protect the entire reserve. The reserve itself was
fragmented by plantations in the river valleys and the coffee
and rubber plantation owners continued to shoot tigers as pests. By 1980
it was estimated that the population of Javan tigers was down to fewer
than 5 individuals, with only 3 animals confirmed in a rapid assessment
survey carried out by John Seidensticker and Ir. Suyono who recommended
a detailed management plan to save this subspecies,
published in 1980.
 This, however, was too little too late and
the tiger is thought to have gone extinct some time in the 1980’s.
A detailed search for the tiger by WWF of the Meru Betiri National Park
failed to find any remaining signs of the Javan Tiger.
They officially pronounced it extinct in 1994.
The loss of a tiger subspecies in such recent history is an
incredibly powerful call to action. We have learned from the Javan tiger
lesson, that tigers need large contiguous protected core areas to
survive. These core protected areas need to be large enough to provide
food and a safe haven for female tigers to raise their cubs. Core
protected areas need to be surrounded by human-tiger friendly habitats
such as multiple-use forest areas that can act as buffer zones. The core
areas also need to be connected to eachother by corridors of
tiger-friendly habitat so that young adult tigers can disperse
into unoccupied territories.
Historically, tigers have traditionally been regarded as a dangerous
nuisance species in many tiger landscapes. This paradigm has
completely changed as people have been made aware of how endangered
the tiger is. Save The Tiger Fund works to mitigate human-tiger
conflict outside protected areas. Where we have been successful, local
attitudes towards tigers have changed from one of fear and disdain to
that of respect and tolerance. With these changes in
attitudes accompanied by reduced demand for illegal tiger
products in international markets we can ensure that viable tiger
populations will remain in human-tiger-friendly landscapes for future
generations.
B. Gratwicke
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