The United Arab Emirates is working closely with Malaysia to protect endangered tigers.
The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (MBZF) and Enggang Management Services recently signed a groundbreaking agreement to establish Southeast Asia’s first dedicated tiger reserve.
The agreement includes MBZF pledging USD 20 million (approximately AED 80 million) to Enggang Management Services over the next five years to fund the 1,340-square-kilometer tiger reserve, named the ‘Al-Sultan Abdullah Royal Tiger Reserve,’ located next to Taman Negara National Park.
This tiger reserve will implement captive breeding, rewilding, and translocation programs for Malayan tigers, which the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies as “critically endangered” on its Red List of Threatened Species.
Malayan tigers have a rich orange coat with black stripes running across its body. Currently, only about 150 Malayan tigers are left in the wild. Their population has dropped by 97% in the past century due to habitat loss and poaching.
Although the tiger reserve will mostly care for the Malayan tiger species, the place will also benefit other rare, threatened, and endangered animals, including tapirs, wild cats, gaur, elephants, sun bears, and various bird species.
