A ten day tiger trapping and collaring mission in Sumatra has laid the foundations for a conservation first helping save tigers the world over. British vet and big cat specialist Dr John Lewis of Wildlife Vets International is returning to Sumatra in September to progress the world’s first comprehensive tiger disease surveillance programme which could become a model for tiger range states everywhere.

It hopes to shed new light on the impact of deadly Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), the latest and potentially deadly threat to tigers from disease passed on by domestic dogs. With challenges on every side for the country’s embattled and dwindling tiger population, disease could be the last straw, says Dr Lewis. An odd side effect of canine distemper, that tigers seem to lose their fear of man, also increases the change of human-tiger conflict and leaves them even more at the mercy of poachers. The team had to pull out of the Dangku Reserve without catching a tiger in the joint effort in January between The South Sumatra Wildlife and Conservation (BKSDA) and ZSL-Indonesia - with veterinary technical input and training from Dr Lewis. Very little is known about the impact of disease on wild tigers, and even less about how to protect them from significant disease risks. The first step is to establish a comprehensive disease surveillance programme to determine which diseases might be present. John has now drawn up an agenda and proposed surveillance framework to be rolled out throughout Sumatra. September will see Indonesian vets working with Sumatran wildlife specialists (particularly on conflict tigers) with support from the Indonesian Veterinary Medical Association. It will be hosted by Taman Safari Indonesia, with technical support from WVI. It will lead to development of a comprehensive disease surveillance programme. It follows training and support provided by WVI and partners in 2012, including how to deal with tigers in a conflict situation and how to collect and store samples correctly from tiger and their prey. For WVI to contribute fully to this landmark project, we need funds, please DONATE here

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Note: The Dangku Tiger Conservation Partnership focuses on a region of South Sumatra that represents the plight of the island as a whole. The area is dominated by several large concessions for palm oil, forestry and oil and gas. But stretched across the landscape also lie several small conservation areas. Amongst these conservation islands live some of the world’s last Sumatran tigers.

Dr John Lewis is due to return to Sumatra in September for the next stage of this project.

September 2013 - Dr John Lewis provided support to the workshop that lead to the development of the Sumatran Tiger Health Forum. An article on the formation of the Forum and what this means for tiger conservation medicine generally can be found here, and the report is found below:

** UPDATE **

September 2013 - Dr John Lewis provided support to the workshop that lead to the development of the Sumatran Tiger Health Forum. An article on the formation of the Forum and what this means for tiger conservation medicine generally can be found here, and the report is found below: