Eye of Tiger is a photo-trap monitoring program that takes place over a long period of time in the tropical rainforest of the Leuser ecosystem in Sumatra, Indonesia, to protect these unique beasts from poaching.
Find out moreMonitoring of Sumatran tigers using photo-traps started in 2014. In 2016, official monitoring called Eye of Tiger was launched. This includes documenting the fauna of the Leuser ecosystem and detecting poaching.
The main goal of the Eye of Tiger programme is to protect wildlife from poaching, to expose and unmask poachers and, of course, to bring unique video footage and photographs of the animals in their natural habitat to the public. The flagship animal of Eye of Tiger is, of course, the Sumatran tiger, but our monitoring also makes a real contribution to the protection of wild elephants, orangutans and Malayan bears, and not only them.
The Eye of Tiger programme also includes monitoring of tiger conflicts in Bohorok district. This activity is done in collaboration with BKSDA, KPH, NPGL and WCS.
Our first tiger monitoring was in late 2014. There were around one to two tiger attacks on cows in Bohorok district each year, which we compensated the owners for. The number of attacks started to increase from the beginning of 2020, but the total change happened from November that year. Within two months, 10 free-ranging cows were killed in the national park's buffer zone after proven tiger attacks. After intensive monitoring using photo-traps, one male tiger was found to regularly prey on livestock in this way in the Gunung Leuser NP buffer zone in Bohorok district.
Based on these events, we responded and transformed our Green Patrol anti-tiger patrol into an anti-poaching team that specialized in monitoring tiger attack sites and the tigers themselves. The aim of this activity was to find solutions to prevent or minimize attacks from recurring, while protecting the tigers from human retaliation. An important activity is to communicate with local farmers and support them in building night shelters for their cows, since tigers mainly hunt at night.
Increased tiger attacks may also be due to the loss of their natural food supply due to poaching of sambar deer and wild boar and, of course, inappropriate grazing of cows in the Leuser ecosystem. In 2024, we intend to bring Green Patrol back to direct field monitoring of tigers in Gunung Leuser NP, retrofitting and professionalizing them to assist in tiger conflict resolution in collaboration with BKSDA, KPH, and NPGL.
With the help of NEPZ partner schools, students, and sponsors, we fund essential equipment like photo traps and locks. Your donation can make a significant impact in safeguarding these magnificent creatures.
Support the Eye of Tiger project and help us preserve the future of Sumatran tigers.
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