Keeping tigers out

Recently Sumatran Ranger Project funded the construction and labour of a livestock corral, to provide a safe haven for livestock in the community of Porli, North Sumatra. This small community lives alongside the Gunung Leuser National Park and locals have been losing livestock to Sumatran tiger attacks. Normal practice is to shepherd their cows during the day and allow them to graze and sleep freely in oil palm plantations which are immediately outside the National Park forest. This provides an easy meal for a hungry tiger but translates into a significant financial loss for locals. After community consultation a local landowner agreed to allow the construction of the corral on his land, and the SRP team together with community members constructed an impressive tiger-proof livestock corral that will house 35-40 cows overnight. If successful, we anticipate reaching out for support to build others in the communities we work in. This is a fantastic example of community conservation; protecting locals' livelihoods while reducing human-tiger conflict and therefore the potential retaliatory killing or maiming of tigers.