Legal Literacy - This article explains the legal regulations prohibiting the trade of wildlife products tiger in Indonesia.

Tiger Species in Indonesia

Recently, the public was surprised by a product in the form of a tablecloth allegedly made from animal material, namely tiger, in the room of the Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR RI), Mr. Bambang Soesatyo. However, after clarification, it turned out to be just a replica, meaning it was not made from genuine tiger skin. Nevertheless, regardless of that, what are the provisions or prohibitions on trading products made from tigers, especially in Indonesia? First of all, it is important to know that tigers are one of the carnivores from the big cat (Panthera) genus that are not only found in Indonesia. At least there are several tiger species that still exist today, namely the Siberian/Amur tiger, Bengal/Indian tiger, Indochinese tiger, South China tiger, Sumatran tiger, and Malayan tiger.

In this article, the Sumatran tiger is the focus of discussion, which is the smallest tiger of all subspecies, with a length of up to 2.5 meters and a weight of 140 kilograms. From data collected by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) since 2018-2019, there are at least 371 individuals still alive. With such a small number, those living in the wild are still threatened by poaching, habitat destruction, and conflicts with humans.