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Lampung. After a lengthy rehabilitation process, two Sumatran tigers were released into the jungle on the southern tip of Sumatra island on Friday, on the newly declared National Day for Wildlife Conservation.

Panti, a six-year-old tigress, and Buyung, an eight-year-old tiger, are now roaming free in the 385,000-hectare Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, joining an estimated 45 Sumatran tigers remaining there.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan pulled the rope that opened the cages, marking their release after 18 months of rehabilitation at a tiger rescue-center at the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation.

“Massive deforestation has decreased the tigers’ natural habitat and has prompted human-tiger conflicts when they would roam into villages in search of food,” Zulkifli said.

The Tambling Conservation, which comprises 45,000 hectares of the park, has been home for Panti, Buyung and four other members of the critically endangered species since they were relocated from South Aceh, where they were captured by villagers. The tigers had been kept in cages at the Aceh nature conservancy office before they were moved to Lampung.

Buyung and Panti — whose name is a shortened version of her species’ Latin name, Panthera tigris — ran off in different directions when their cages were opened, quickly disappearing into the bush.

Chips were implanted into the tigers to allow the monitoring of their movements.

Earlier on Friday in Jakarta, Vice President Boediono declared January 22 National Day for Wildlife Conservation.

“Giving room to rare species is our task together,” he said during the declaration at the Vice Presidential Palace.

The release of the tigers into the wild comes a few days after the government revealed a plan to offer rare Sumatran tigers for adoption by citizens.

Tiger “adoption”— where a pair can be rented out as pets in exchange for a Rp 1 billion ($107,100) deposit — could help curb illegal hunting and trade, a Forestry Ministry official said on Friday.

“There is much demand from rich people who want them, who feel that if they own a tiger they are big shots. We have to take concrete steps to protect these animals,” said Darori, the ministry’s chief of forest protection and nature conservancy.

The tiger “renters” would be required to allow quarterly visits by a team of vets, animal welfare officers and ministerial staff. They would also be required to provide the tigers with cages of minimum dimensions: five meters high, six meters wide and 10 meters long.

The animals would come from captivity.

Darori acknowledged that he had already received complaints about the plan from 12 environmental organizations.

“So we have invited them for consultations before we continue with this plan. If we can agree, it will be put into practice as soon as possible,” he said.

Environmental activists have criticized the plan, saying it was a wrong approach to saving the tigers from extinction.

Greenpeace’s forest campaigner, Bustar Maitar, said the plan was tantamount to selling off the tigers.

“It shows the government is not serious about addressing the real issues threatening Sumatran tigers. They need to stop issuing forest concessions,” he said.

Only about 400 Sumatran tigers are believed to be left in Indonesia. Deforestation has destroyed much of their native habitat and they are hunted for traditional medicines and illegal menageries.

With additional reporting from Reuters and Camelia Pasandaran