Tigers are the largest living cats in the world, with the Sumatran Tiger being the smallest of the six tiger subspecies. Sumatran Tigers inhabit the tropical rainforests on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
The pattern of tigers’ stripes is unique to each animal, just like fingerprints are to humans. The stripe pattern is found on a tiger’s skin and, if shaved, its distinctive pattern would remain. Sumatran Tigers also have webbing between their toes, which makes them good swimmers. Tigers make many sounds, including roaring, chuffing, growling and mewing.
One hundred years ago it is estimated that there were 100,000 wild tigers – today the number is thought to be as few as 3,200 individuals. The Sumatran Tiger is the last surviving subspecies of tiger in Indonesia; the Balinese Tiger became extinct in the 1940s and the Javanese Tiger in the early 1980s. Current estimates indicate there is around 300-500 wild Sumatran Tigers with a rapidly decreasing trend due to habitat destruction for palm oil plantations and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade.
