14 DAY TRIAL // Not very long ago, the Indonesian island of Sumatra was home to a thriving population of tigers. Sadly, conservationists now say that, as far as they can tell, only 400 big cats belonging to this species are left to roam the natural ecosystems in this part of the world.
What drove them this close to extinction, and still threatens their long-term survival, is human activities, Science Daily reports.
Oddly enough, humans don't even have to cut down trees or hunt these felines in order to push the species ever closer to extinction.
By the looks of it, all they have to do is walk about the Sumatran tigers' natural habitats.
“Tigers are not only threatened by habitat loss from deforestation and poaching; they are also very sensitive to human disturbance.”
“They cannot survive in areas without adequate understory, but they are also threatened in seemingly suitable forests when there is too much human activity,” conservation Sunarto explains.
Sumatran tigers only inhabit this Indonesian island. Wildlife researchers fear that, unless local communities quit showing up uninvited in these big cats' natural habitats, the species will eventually go extinct.