One of the main reasons for the dwindling numbers of Sumatran tigers on the island is its apparent loss of habitat, owing to two main human actions: deforestation and forest fires.

The Sumatran human population has enjoyed exponential growth over the years, this island experiencing the highest population growth rate within the country. With a large population comes a greater demand for natural resources. In Sumatra, deforestation has been the solution to the unsustainable demand that came with its exponential population growth, where large areas of forest are cleared for land to accomodate more people. Deforestation has also been caused by a government initiative to increase tree crop plantations and high intensity commercial logging for economic growth. Statistics show that some of Indonesia’s fastest deforestation rates occur on the island of Sumatra, and that the rates of deforestation on the island has been at their highest in Indonesia during the last couple of years, thereby emphasizing the seriousness of this issue.

Forest fires on the other hand, are a result of the great need for land space for commercial purposes by private organizations. Some forest fires on the island have natural causes, but many developers, farmers and plantation managers alike carry out these acts to clear land for new plantings. Despite a government ban on the clearing of land through forest fires, rates of forest fires continue to persist through the year, partially owing to poor enforcement strategies on the government’s part.

Both deforestation and forest fires often force the tigers that live in these affected areas to flee from their habitats in search of other safer grounds, which today are scarce and fragmented, posing a great difficulty in terms of mobility. Statistics show that in 2009, only 50% of the original forests remained on the island. Further, large amounts of prey population are depleted during such acts, resulting in less substinence for the Sumatran tiger species. In this way, the human-tiger has both direct and indirect implications on the near-extinction of the tiger species in Sumatra.