In 14th century, the prince from the neighboring island of Singapore was exploring the
seas for new land and made landfall on a new island. Upon arrival, he and his
men a powerful beast with a golden mane and his men told him it was a lion.
Therefore, the Prince named the island 'Singapura', which means the City of
Lion. Many people think, however what he saw was not a lion but a tiger. And
this tiger was considered to be the ancestor of Sumatran tiger.
Wild Sumatran tigers live in the tropical
rain forests in Sumatran and it is the only surviving member of Sunda Islands
group of tigers, which included Bali tigers and Javan tigers; but according to
the current situation of Sumatran tigers, they will extinct as the cousins
soon. In 1978, there were more than 1000 Sumatran tigers lived in the wild, but
the population is fewer than 400 now. There are two main reasons for the
declining of Sumatran tigers.
First, Sumatran tigers’ habitat is shrinking
in Sumatra and the whole Indonesia because of human activities. People destroyed
forests for plantations, agriculture and settlement. From 1985 to 1997, about 67,000 km² of forest was lost in
Sumatra and the decline is continuing in a fast rate. And among the remained
forest, only 1/3 has been form of conservation area. Sumatran tigers’ living
area is losing and the king of forest has no more forest to rule.
On the other
hand, over-hunting “makes a great effort” for the decline of Sumatran tigers. Tiger
poaching is rampant in Indonesia; many shops sell tiger products, such as tiger
bones and skins. Also, many tiger products are exported to other countries.
Although Sumatran tigers are on the edge of extinction, there is no evidence
that tiger poaching has declined significantly.
There is a urging
for people to take actions to protect them; we can help save the tiger. First,
do not buy any product containing tiger parts, such as some Chinese medicines
with tiger bones. Second, saving paper. For example, we should use double-size
printing instead of one side. And also, we can donate money to some tiger
protect projects. It is the time that we should make an effort to save tigers
and give future people a chance to see the creature, which made Singapore to be
called “lion city”.
Ps: Here is a
video of Sumatran tiger. If you want to know more about Sumatran tiger, please
click
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