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Adoption Scheme for Indonesia's Rare Sumatran Tigers in the Works: Ministry
January 21, 2010

A wild Sumatran Tiger captured by conservation officers. Illegal trade and habitat loss have left the species fighting for its life. (Photo: Irwin Fedriansya, AP) A wild Sumatran Tiger captured by conservation officers. Illegal trade and habitat loss have left the species fighting for its life. (Photo: Irwin Fedriansya, AP)
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Roland
8:07pm Jan 21, 2010

What an absolutely, absolutely, absolutely wacky idea! Who cooked that one up?

Please, put this idea straight into a drawer, lock it up and throw the keys away.

Even the explanation for this "adoption" idea stinks to heaven: "They (several wealthy businessmen) don't just want to own horses. They want to be acknowledged as special people with prestige, so they want to keep tigers."

Shame on everyone even taking this idea into consideration!

Tony The Tiger
5:03pm Jan 21, 2010

"But we're not in it for the money... We want to save the tigers."

Hi, I'm Madonna! I'm here in Jakarta, and tonight I'll be doing a free show in Bunderan HI! Please come and see me!

peterR
3:46pm Jan 21, 2010

So the Sumatran tigers will no-longer exist in the wild but will be kept by rich people as status symbols, allowing their habitat to be systematically destroyed. It is basically an admission of complete and utter failure by the government to protect this beautiful creature. No-body can possibly believe that the conditions under which the tigers will be kept will be monitored for very long, and in any event, when some money changes hands, all of the grand promises will be forgotten.

This basically spells the end of the end of the Sumatran tiger.

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The government recently said it had come up with a plan to save Sumatran tigers from extinction by allowing people to adopt captive-born animals as pets for $100,000 a pair. 

The Forestry Ministry said the plan could be put carried out as early as this year despite reservations by environmentalists, who said the focus should be on protecting habitats for the remaining 200 tigers in the wild. 

“We’re not selling or renting tigers. We’re only authorizing people to look after them,” said Darori, the ministry’s conservation chief. “These people will have to follow certain conditions. The tigers will still belong to the government.” 

He said interested owners would have to “deposit” Rp 1 billion for a pair of tigers, which he called a “guarantee toward conservation.” 

The minimum area required to keep a pair would be around 60 square meters, although something the size of three football fields would be better, ministry officials said. 

The animals’ health would be monitored by government experts and mistreatment would be punished by fines or jail terms. 

“Let’s think of the tigers’ new homes as mini-zoos,” Darori said. 

Another ministry official, Didi Wuryanto, said there were about 30 captive-born tigers in Indonesia. “This idea of selling the tigers to the public came about after several wealthy businessmen proposed buying them,” Wuryanto said. “They want to be acknowledged as special people with prestige, so they want to keep tigers.” 

 

Agence France-Presse