But there wasn't much to celebrate when there were only around 250 tigers left in the wild in Malaysia.
Malayan Tiger is Part of Malaysia
Malayan tiger is part of our national emblem (jata negara), royal Malaysian police logo and national football team logo, representing strength and courage. Corporations such as Proton and Maybank also take pride in this charismatic animal by using it as part of their brand symbol.
The Importance of an Apex Predator
By having tigers striving in our forest, it is an indicator of how healthy our forest and the ecosystem is. The absence of an apex predator will have significant impacts on other wildlife community and the forest structure. One of the examples that shows the cascading effects where apex predators were absent:
Scotland, United Kingdom: With no natural predators around, the deer population in Scotland thrived, estimated to be up to 700,000 deers in the wild. The population size varied based on the species, ranges from 400,000 red deer and 350,000 roe deer to 25,000 sika deer and 2,000 fallow deer.
The overwhelming number of herbivores poses the biggest threat to the country's native woodland. Excessive browsing and grazing activities by deer can reduce tree growth and inhibit forest regeneration. In the 2009/10, the forest protection in Scotland cost £10.5 million, which mainly involved managing the deer population. By affecting the forest structures, deers indirectly cause population decline in some bird species such as wood warbler.
Hopes for Malayan Tiger in the Future
Despite the cheerless state of tigers in Malaysia, India has shown to be successful in increasing their wild tiger population by 33% in just four years. Now, there are around 3000 tigers inhabiting the country. A number of factors helped contribute to the increase in India's tiger population, including awareness campaigns, hunting ban, a strict wildlife protection law and more investment to hire more forest guards.
References:
1. Tiger Population Status: http://www.wwf.org.my/tiger_facts/status_of_malayan_tigers/
2. Scotland deer: https://www.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S4/SB_13-74.pdf
3. India success story:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/29/india-wild-tiger-population-rises-conservation
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49148174
Pictures:
Tiger: http://www.wwf.org.my/tiger_facts/the_malayan_tiger/
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