Indonesia seeks more evidence that Javan tiger not yet extinct

With camera traps and extensive DNA sweeps, Indonesian conservationists are hoping to find more evidence that the Javan tiger, a species declared extinct, actually still exists in the wild, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry announced on March 26.

In a DNA study released last week, scientists at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) of Indonesia said a strand of tiger hair sighted in a West Java village in 2019 matched some characteristics of the tiger, which is native to the Southeast Asian nation.

Satyawan Pudyatmoko, the ministry official who oversees conservation, said the research has sparked speculation that the Javan tiger is still in the wild, adding that the ministry is making efforts to verify that.

Measures include setting camera traps around the area and seeking advice from genetics experts, he said.

Previously, the Javan and Bali tigers have been declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on wildlife extinction risk. Only the Sumatran tiger remains, and it is considered endangered. Researchers have cited poaching and deforestation are among the causes driving the extinction of these species of tiger.

However, in 2019, villagers spotted what they thought was a Javan tiger and collected its hair from a fence and found scratch marks./.

VNA