SizeAdult males: up to eight feet from head to tail, up

to 300 pounds; adult females: up to seven feet from head to tail, around 200 pounds

RangeThe Indonesian island of Sumatra

HabitatLowland forests, mountain forests, and peat moss

forests. Sumatran tigers also venture into mountainous areas.

LifestyleSumatran tigers are solitary, generally only coming together to mate.  A male's territory may overlap several females' territories, but not other males'.

FoodSumatran tigers are carnivores, and prey on small

animals from fish and birds, to large ungulates like wild boar, tapir, and deer.

Life CycleIn the wild, life expectancy is about 12 years; up to 20

years in zoos. Mating may occur at any time, but is most common between November and April. 

Gestation is approximately 110 days.  Litters consist of one to five helpless cubs weighing just over 2

pounds. The cubs stay with their mother for about two years, then begin to establish their own

territories. Sexual maturity is reached at 3-4 years for females, and 4- 5 years for males.

Some of My Neighbors (IN THE WILD)Orangutans, wild boar, tapir, Sumatran rhino, Sumatran

Elephant

Population Status & ThreatsListed as critically endangered by the IUCN; there are fewer than 500 individuals (a generous estimate) in

the wild.  Habitat loss due to human activities, as well as poaching, is intensifying this crisis.

Zoo Atlanta Conservation EffortsZoo Atlanta's Sumatran Tigers are part of the AZA

Species Survival Plan (SSP).  Through the SSP, we are able to help ensure  that the captive population of

Sumatran tigers is as genetically varied and healthy as possible.

Today the greatest threat to the Sumatran tiger is MAN.  Habitat Loss: In Sumatra, tiger habitat is shrinking fast with timber resources being exploited on a large scale. The tiger in Sumatra faces precarious prospects if its present distribution continue to be substantially reduced and populations become small, fragmented and isolated from one another.   Loss of their natural habitat - good forest like that pictured here often leads tigers to move into settled areas in search of food, where they then encounter problems. 

Tiger poaching and the illegal trading of tiger parts and products is one of the most immediate threats  to the Sumatran tiger. 

Chinese medicine has spread throughout Asia.  Nearly every part of the tiger is reported to have healing properties from the eyeball-a treatment for epilepsy to the whiskers - a cure for tooth ache.   Although trade in tiger parts is illegal poaching is widespread as a single adult can fetch up to $20,000 on the black market. 

Snares collected by Sumatran Tiger Trust Anti Poacing Rangers on patrol.