Save Sumatran Tigers From Extinction!

Indonesian Office Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Office Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources:

The Leuser is in desperate need of protection from destructive forces, including paper and palm oil plantations that are destroying the fragile, remarkable and irreplaceable ecosystem. Needing even more protection — and directly related to the first — are the Sumatran tigers living there which are on the brink of extinction. I urge you to act fast and protect the Leuser from further deforestation and poaching before we lose the Sumatran tigers forever.

Currently, there is an estimated population of only 300-400 Sumatran Tigers left in the wild. Despite laws and heavy fines against poaching, the trade still continues and more tigers are being killed each year for their skins, bones and other materials.

Poachers kill around 40 deaths a year in the Leuser, accounting for 78 percent of Sumatran tiger deaths annually. At that rate the tigers will be completely extinct within a decade. Stronger penalties, more dedicated protection resources and greater enforcement of anti-poaching laws must be put into place immediately to stop the slaughter of the already critically-endangered species.

I ask you to urgently increase enforcement efforts and implementation of laws to stop illegal logging and to ban trade of tiger parts and products, or extinction is near for the last of Sumatra's tigers. I urge you to take action against the markets, trade hubs and retail outlets in Sumatra and also to call for a moratorium on clearing in Sumatra's lowland forests by multinational paper and oil companies.

The Leuser is the only place left on earth where tigers, rhinoceroses, orangutans and elephants still live together. Something that precious and unique must be protected at all costs, just as the individual animals themselves must be protected, cherished and allowed to thrive.

Not only is the Leuser rainforest beautiful, it is also a diverse and delicate ecosystem. Deforestation and habitat destruction affects the entire ecosystem, displacing and killing animals' food sources from the bottom of the food chain to the top. The entire region is being thrown into disarray by the paper and palm oil industries. Once lost, it will be lost forever.

If nothing is done and the tigers' habitat is allowed to be destroyed at its current pace, alongside the rampant poaching of the precious few Sumatran tigers left, future generations will never have the chance to see one living in the wild. In fact, the Sumatran tiger could become extinct in our lifetime — unless something is done to save them.

In this day and age, with full knowledge of the tragic losses of multiple species around the world over the past centuries from poaching, over hunting and habitat destruction, there is no excuse to continue down the same road and make the same mistakes which will inevitably lead to another precious species' extinction.

I implore you to take immediate action to preserve the Leuser and protect the Sumatran tigers from further death. These rare, majestic tigers must be allowed to live in peace, repopulate and thrive once more in their natural habitat. With so few Sumatran tigers left, we cannot afford to stand idly by and do nothing in their defense.

Sincerely,