About
The Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) is an animal of national significance for Malaysia. Seventy years ago, it was estimated that there were about 3,000 tigers roaming the forests of Peninsular Malaysia. Although totally protected wildlife under the Wildlife Conservation (Amendment) Act 2022, the status of this sub-species under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was changed from Endangered to Critically Endangered in 2015 due to the decline in numbers. Regardless of IUCN's recent subspecies taxonomic revision, as announced in 2021, results from Malaysia's first National Tiger Survey now indicate that less than 150 individuals remain in Peninsular Malaysia. There is therefore a critical need for strategic interventions to prevent its extinction.
The main threats towards tigers in Malaysia are poaching, prey base depletion, as well as habitat loss and fragmentation. Snares are widely used by the indigenous people from villages inside or adjacent to the landscape to catch prey species for wild meat trade. Professional poaching syndicates from Vietnam and Cambodia which operate deep within the forest target tigers, leopards, bears as well as agarwood. This has become one of the greatest threats to wildlife in Malaysia.
What we do
WCS commenced work in the Endau-Rompin Landscape in 2007 in the state of Johor under the Johor Wildlife Conservation Project, and subsequently expanded into the neighbouring state of Pahang in 2010 under the Pahang Forest and Wildlife Conservation Project. The Johor Wildlife Conservation Project serves as a platform for tiger and elephant conservation, with Johor National Parks Corporation as the lead agency. The partners are the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Johor State Forestry Department, the Royal Malaysia Police, Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd. and WCS. Under the two projects, various efforts have been undertaken to ensure the continued survival of the critically endangered Malayan tiger. These include monthly multi-agency patrols, capacity building for anti-poaching work, tiger monitoring, outreach and awareness.
Currently, patrols for wildlife protection are conducted by several enforcement agencies and WCS. Among these efforts are the multi-agency operations called ‘Ops Bersepadu Khazanah’ and the ‘Biodiversity Protection & Patrolling Programme’ initiated by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Independent patrols are also conducted by WCS and enforcement agencies. WCS supports these patrols by providing training as well as logistic and technical support for the patrols.In collaboration with the Johor National Parks Corporation and Department of Wildlife and National Parks, WCS conducts regular wildlife surveys to determine and track the conservation status of tigers, and uses this information to update conservation management plans. Specifically, WCS monitors the population density of tigers and relative abundances of prey using camera trap surveys and assesses the intensity of habitat use by wildlife species and movement of wildlife, especially large mammals, through the critical corridors within Endau-Rompin Landscape