All language subtitles for Tiger Island BBC Natural World 2012 720p HDTV_Subtitles01.ENG

The Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Hiding deep in these forests

are some of the world's
most elusive big cats...

..Sumatran tigers.

These tigers are in trouble.

As they stray into the world
of humans,

many are killed or imprisoned.

TIGER ROARS

These are tigers accused
of man-eating.

Their future is bleak.

TIGER ROARS FIERCELY

But a controversial millionaire
might save them.

He is re-releasing tigers
accused of man-eating.

The world's leading tiger expert,
Alan Rabinowitz,

wants to investigate their impact.

The concept of rehabilitating
conflict tigers,

especially man-eaters, is not
something I've put much stock in.

It's a pretty scary concept,

that is somewhat equivalent
to putting a murderer,

which you don't know if they are
truly rehabilitated or not,

back into society, and hoping
they won't kill again.

The experiment on Tiger Island

could mean new hope
for the world's tigers,

or it could be a disaster.

The south-east Asian island
of Sumatra

is home to some of the richest
and most diverse tropical forests
on the planet.

They house thousands
of unique species...

MONKEYS CALL

..and rare animals
threatened with extinction.

Here are the only great apes
outside Africa - orangutans.

Isolated on islands,
animals evolve differently.

The Sumatran tiger, the only
remaining island tiger,

is now the smallest in the world.

It's rarely glimpsed
in its natural habitat,

and virtually all film of it
is taken in captivity.

The best images of it in the wild
are captured on camera traps.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

Genetically, it's very different
from all the other tigers

throughout the tiger range.

It's been separated long enough,

probably over 10,000 years,
from the mainland populations.

Alan Rabinowitz has spent his life
tracking and studying big cats.

He's the Indiana Jones
of wildlife protection -

the most renowned field biologist
in the world.

Despite lots of effort,
lots of good intent,

significant amounts of money,
we're losing tigers.

Alan knows tigers well.

He's searched for them
in India and Bhutan.

If we were to lose
the Sumatran tiger,

we would lose a key
portion of the tiger genome.

Tigers have already lost
a lot of the genetic diversity

that they've had in the past.

We can't afford to lose
the Sumatran tiger.

And now there may be fewer
than 500 Sumatran tigers left.

Saving them is crucial.

Alan's home base is New York.

The non-profit organisation he heads

carries out big cat conservation
across the globe.

We're in a horrific state
with tigers.

Tigers are off the edge of
the cliff, sliding downward.

Can we still save them and bring
them back? Absolutely we can.

But we really are not playing
with a lot of time.

The bold experiment in Asia
by an eccentric millionaire

has grabbed Alan's attention.

The idea of trying to save tigers
which have killed people,

I don't know what to say,
it was not only intriguing to me,

it was pretty frightening.

I wanted to know more about this.

An internet search reveals that the
self-made tycoon's scheme

excites controversy in the press.

Over the years, Alan's learned
to take gossip and hearsay

with a pinch of salt.

What sort of person would risk
releasing tigers blamed for deaths?

Alan wants to meet the maverick
millionaire to decide for himself.

Tomy Winata and his many
businesses, from finance
to property,

thrive in a land where the
forests are under threat.

In Sumatra, money grows on trees.

The pulp and paper industry,
palm oil and coffee cultivation,

are all encroaching on the last
remaining habitats

of Sumatra's rare tigers.

Forests are clear-cut.
Farmland replaces tiger territory.

The big cats roam new fields,
searching for prey.

Conflict ensues,
and both sides suffer losses.

Across Asia, top predators
are not natural neighbours.

The tigers become victims
of a zero-tolerance policy.

CROWD SHOUTS

265 Sumatran tigers
have been killed.

97 have been captured.

That's when the dilemma begins.

What do you do with
a captured man-eater?

TIGER GROWLS

On his way to track Tomy down,

Alan stops off at Sumatra's
Taman Safari Park,

a gaol for man-eating and
conflict tigers since 1992.

Currently, 12 killer tigers are
being held here indefinitely.

TIGER GROWLS

There's nowhere else in the world
like this place -

Tiger Alcatraz.

GROWLING

TIGER GROWLS

The animals are imprisoned

to safeguard their valuable genes
for the future.

Oh, man.

15 years ago, this was thought
to be one way forward -

keep captive and breed.
Oh!

You too.

They're beautiful.
Still mad at me?

Whoo! Sends shivers down my spine.

Ooh!
GROWLING

I've been around tigers a lot,
in the wild and in captivity,

and this place is a little spooky.

To be surrounded by man-eaters,
even with the bars between us,

it's a bit spooky.

But when Taman Safari is full,
where can suspects go?

Tigers accused of terrible things...

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

..like this female, Panti.

When six people were killed in the
north of Sumatra, panic broke out.

Hunters and their dogs
rounded up 12 tigers.

Panti was among the suspects.

Some, or even all, were innocent.

GROWLING

The authorities had a dozen
wild tigers on their hands,

and nowhere to keep them.

The captives were brought to
this temporary holding centre.

In the months of delay
that followed,

seven of the tigers died here.

Alan doesn't know it yet,

but Panti will be crucial
in helping him discover

if suspected man-eaters can ever be
safely released back into the wild.

PANTI GROWLS

LAUGHTER

Rich, well-connected, and with
a secluded nature reserve,

Tomy Winata took in Panti
and four other survivors.

He is the go-to-guy,

providing alternative accommodation
for tigers.

What I've heard about at this
project sounded different,

it sounded interesting, and it
sounded particularly interesting

because it brings an outsider's
approach, a businessman's approach,

a non-scientist's approach,

to a potentially very important
tiger landscape.

The media spotlight is on Tomy -
a man accused by the press

of shady underworld dealings is
harbouring tiger murder suspects.

Instead of condemning them
to life imprisonment,

Tomy is giving them a second chance.

First, he puts the prisoners
into what he calls rehab,

until they're judged fit
to return to the wild.

So far, he's freed five alleged
man-eaters onto his land...

..including Panti.

He radio-collars them and
monitors their movements...

..for good reason.

170 villagers live in the area
where he releases these tigers.

Is it ever safe to release potential
man-eaters near people?

That's Alan's big question.

And he has others
about the man in charge.

Interestingly, the first thing
I heard from the outside world

was that I should be very,
very careful

about even thinking
about coming here,

that I should be very, very careful
about dealing with Tomy...

..because there were
a lot of rumours

circulating about what could
potentially be going on here.

The only way to find out
is to meet the man himself.

Good to see you this morning.

That's a nice plane.

The best way to reach Tomy's
private estate is by plane.

Tomy's plane.

He owns a charter company.

They fly a route Tomy's picked.

It's a short flight from Jakarta,
Indonesia's capital city.

From 1996 on, Tomy helped
the government protect

up to 170 square miles of land
at the tip of southern Sumatra.

It's bounded by sea on two sides
and a national park to the north.

When it rains, it's cut off by road.

A perfect private nature reserve.

So when you first came here,
did it look like this?

Half.

Half?

Many people, all cut the forest?

Er, yeah, many people.

Alan is eager to find out
what Tomy's really been up to.

Few visitors ever glimpse
this reserve.

Tomy's own conservation guards
keep intruders at bay.

Welcome to Tambling.

Uninvited guests are not welcome.

There are, however,
the 170 residents.

The local village existed
before Tomy started his project,

and it's still there.

Tomy releases his man-eaters
within walking distance.

I don't have a very clear picture,
as clear a picture as I would like

about what's going on
in this village.

Alan is anxious to find out
how local people react

to tigers in their fields.

CALLS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

Now, it's not a big village,
it's not...

They're limited by where they
can even perform their activities,

because Tomy zones
where they can work and not work,

and what they, what they
are able to be doing.

Hello.

Hello.

Can I ask them, if any of them,

when they work in this area,
when they work in their plantations,

have any of them ever heard
tiger sounds,

or seen any tiger track or seen
any tigers in this area
around the village?

What they mostly saw
is the footprint, and then

sometimes heard the sound, but
they never seen a real tiger before.

Have any of them
ever had anything killed

that they think
was killed by a tiger?

MAN SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

A long time ago, yes,
they have found that,

for example, like a chicken
or dog was killed by a tiger.

How long ago?

SHE ASKS HIM

One month ago.

One month ago. OK.

Are they afraid of the tigers here?

Are they afraid of the tigers
in this jungle?

Hi, Tomy. OK!

THEY LAUGH

I really wanted to pursue
that line of questioning,

but everything got cut short, pretty
much, when Tomy came over.

Because their attitude changed.

Clearly, clearly Tomy helped drive
where the conversation was going.

He's their boss.
He's their guardian.

Whether it's scared, whether it's
self-protection,

they are very careful around him.

What was very obvious is that these
people know about tigers,

and that tigers are either right
around their village,

or even sometimes coming
into their village.

What is fascinating
information to me,

despite how that village

is just ripe for potential disaster,
maybe, and everything,

but these animals have been set free
since 2008,

and nobody is hiding this from us,
we would know this,

there are not killings
happening out there in this area.

The home of tiger only one
kilometre, huh?

This is something interesting.
No problem.

Well, that is interesting.

There is only, only below one,
two kilo from here.

I know, that's kind of scary, Tomy.

It is interesting, and if that
works, if it works, it's good.

The only thing I'm scared of is
that some day maybe it doesn't work.

No-one of them complaining about
the tigers fighting them.

I keep on coming back in my head
to the same thing.

Do I think it's a good idea,
under any circumstances,

to set free man-eating tigers?

GROWLING

This is a really different
way of thinking for me,

because my mantra, and that of many
people in my field has always been,

"If a tiger or any big cat
has killed people,

"that you just don't
set it free again."

It's just doomed to a life
in captivity.

Tomy still has more captive tigers.

Alan is keen to discover
which ones he might release.

TIGER ROARS

The teeth broken so this, this male
one cannot release any more.

So this one killed only one person?

Five or six.

This one killed five or six?
Oh, you can't set him free.

Yeah, that, you're right.
Yeah, that's it.

TIGER ROARS

If it killed five people, I wouldn't
want him back in the forest, either.

Heh!
TIGER ROARS

That's interesting. He comes at you
when you turn your back, see? Yeah.

As soon as you turn your back.

When you look at him, he goes back,
when you turn your back.

As well as the single female, Panti,

Tomy has released four males
into his reserve.

Male tigers released
into new territories

roam large areas looking
for other males.

If they find one,
they may fight to the death.

A winning invader also searches out
cubs in their new zone,

and kills them, too.

Releasing female tigers
that can have cubs

is a much better way
to increase their numbers.

TIGER ROARS

How many people did this one kill?
Two or three.

This female, Salma,
is also accused of man-killing.

These tigers have real personality.

This is natural energy
of the tiger in the wild.

When you go to a zoo and you
see tigers which are calm,

and they are sleeping,
and they don't growl at the people,

those are pretty much
broken-spirited tigers.

Those kind of tigers can't be
re-introduced into the wild.

These tigers have not
had their spirits broken.

This energy, this charging and
backing off, that vocalisation,

it's them being a tiger,

it's being the strong,
dominant predator in the forest,

and this is what they need in order
to go back in the forest.

They need this spirit
in order to survive.

SALMA ROARS

Salma's story is typical -
caught, presumed guilty.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS,
CROWD SHOUTS

She is supposed to have killed a
family and scattered their remains.

Salma was trapped two and a half
miles from the incident itself.

She was transported to a nearby zoo.

She became a star attraction,

and although she may be
totally innocent,

rumours still spread that Salma
had killed a large number of people.

With government cages full,

Salma was despatched to Tomy's
for possible future release.

Two years later, she's still here.

She could be valuable in the wild.

She might breed with local males
and increase tiger numbers.

It's in good shape,
its teeth look in good shape

and it definitely has
an incredible fighting spirit.

This tiger looks like it could be
set back free in the wild.

Now, it's always a tricky thing.
It should have a radio collar on it.

I've been told that every animal
that's released gets a collar.

If the collar was put on
and they followed it closely,

and if it started being a danger,
you can go in and intercede.

But it's far from clear who decides
if a tiger is freed.

For that female,
who would make the decision

if and when she were to be set free?

At least we will make
a recommendation to the government.

The government scientists...
we make discussion.

Salma could be released
if a good case can be made

to the government officials.

Females are the ultimate test
of Tomy's experiment.

They are less likely to be
driven off by resident males.

But to be successful, firstly,
they mustn't kill anyone.

Next, they must find a new home
and catch enough prey.

And finally, they must mate
and raise cubs.

But is it a good idea to
release any more tigers?

If there are too many
close to Tomy's area,

will they become a danger
to themselves and others?

There are, right now,
three tigers in captivity,

and Tomy's said he's got word
of up to five others out there

that he's being asked about.

And he's justifiably concerned
about knowing

how many could be released
in here safely,

and when that time is going to come
that there's going to be one

that maybe they did something
wrong, and things don't go well.

Alan is becoming frustrated
by the lack of hard facts.

The worst thing an expert can do,

a true scientist can do, is make
your mind up on too little data.

Let me tell you that straight off.

I am not going to be
pushed into making my mind up

if I feel I don't have
all the facts.

Clearly, the cats have been,
have been collared upon release,

because there are videos of them.

Show me the collaring data,
show me the GPS data.

Unfortunately, the data
from the collars is missing.

The most valuable tiger Tomy's
released is the female, Panti,

because she's old enough to breed.

Finding her would be
a significant advance.

The five tigers released
so far are not alone.

Before we released the tiger...

Tomy believes there were already
many other tigers on his reserve.

Between 20 and 30?

Yes.

But when your men go out on patrol,

do they write down every time
they see tiger tracks?

Yeah, they make a photo.

Yes, we do, and we have a document
photo, picture document.

INDISTINCT

Alan would like to collect data
of his own, and share his findings

with Tomy, to help decide whether
it's a good idea to release Salma.

I can give the permission.
But one thing I want condition.

Everything you get you put on
the table. We share together.

Absolutely.

Because I know sometimes they put in
the back pocket and keep quiet.

I know. That's been a big problem.

This is happening with me, I look at
and I get a problem with me.

It happens in every country too.
You know, it's a real problem.

Many, many times scientists
or other people come,

and they get the research
and they take it away.

I also don't know why.

HE LAUGHS

Alan needs to know

if any tigers Tomy's freed recently
remain close to the village.

Resident tigers haven't
troubled people,

but more incomers
might tip the balance.

Alan is on the look-out for any
clues to the tigers' whereabouts.

This is a well-marked tree.

Well marked tree, huh?
Yeah.

A tiger has been paying
a visit to Tomy's HQ.

Well, the tiger walks
along this road...

Look at that, the same species
of tree. It's always that way.

The tigers pick a certain
kind of tree. Oh, yeah?

We definitely have a tiger
living in this area.

It's a good opportunity for Alan
to start to collect his own data

by mounting camera traps
he's brought with him.

OK, she's ready to go.

If Alan can capture
any tigers on film,

he'll be able to cross-reference
their stripe pattern

with photos of the released tigers.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

No attacks have been reported.

If Alan finds released tigers
still here, among people,

it will strengthen Tomy's case

that it is possible
to rehabilitate these tigers.

All right. Sure would be nice
seeing a tiger in this.

Alan has four more camera traps,

so the search continues
for more tiger tracks

along a shoreline path
not far from the village.

What's that over there?

Good eyes.

Huh?

Does look like tiger. Good eyes. You
got good eyes, huh? Tomy spotted it.

See that track?

It's last night, it's not,
it's not sharp enough, you know,

sometimes when we see a track, when
they're fresh fresh, they're very,

very sharp, and then overnight, it
get a little more round, you know?

Ah!

Those are nice tracks.

Boy, oh boy, these are not old.

Huh?

These are very fresh, very sharp.

Yeah.

This morning, huh?

It could be this morning,
because usually in sand,

the sand, if there's any kind of
wind, the track's not that sharp.

You know, we should put up
a camera trap right here.

Any tiger in this area
is going to walk this trail,

for lots of reasons,
but most importantly,

the habitat on both sides
is very rough, it's very thick.

So any tiger in this area is going
to come along this road.

I think there's a really good chance

of getting a tiger
in this camera trap.

Now, there's not a lot of great
places to put it,

but a good place looks right here,
if we look up this road.

Alan's hoping to see a tiger
using this path,

ideally one of the five
released so far.

All right. Let's see what happens,
what we get here.

Any more tigers freed would need
plenty of prey.

But is there enough
in Tomy's forests?

Alan can see the reserve
is well stocked.

Sometimes the deer come across.

You see them swim?

We've seen lots
and lots of sambar deer.

There's wild water buffalo,
there are signs of wild pig,

so, clearly, a very beautiful piece
of tiger habitat is being protected.

Having said that, I'm less sure
about exactly how and why

they're going about this so-called
conflict tiger rehab programme.

The rehab programme is still
a mystery to Alan.

In the wild, tigers must be able
to hunt and kill live prey.

Caged tigers fed on dead meat
can lose the ability to hunt.

Tomy's attempting to keep
the cats wild,

so he feeds captives
like Salma live prey.

What Alan observes
leaves him in shock.

I have to admit the pig slaughter
was a bit distasteful to me.

Today when they fed these tigers,
and just kind of said,

"OK, now we are going to show you
part of our rehab programme."

And, basically, the rehab programme
is dumping sickly-looking pigs,

just into the tiger cages,
and letting the tigers go at them.

TIGER GROWLS

That's not a rehab programme.

It raised a lot
of questions in my mind.

The process of how
they were feeding,

what they were feeding,
just didn't look right to me.

A small pig won't keep an adult
tiger going for long.

In the wild, tigers usually stalk
more substantial prey,

like sambar deer,
far into the forest.

If tigers can't find food easily,
or are youngsters,

they may gravitate towards farms.

That's where they often run into
trouble - snatching domestic
animals.

Tomy has another young
female among his captives.

She was found loitering
near a village.

But there's no proof
that she had killed.

They estimated it could be two,
two and a half.

It looked even younger than that,
and now I'm sure it is.

PIG SQUEALS

It kind of went at it, backed off,
it grabbed it, let it go.

It squealed, it dragged it
to a body of water,

kind of dunked it a few times,
swatted it around, let it go.

How long have you had this tiger?
August last year.

And does she play with the animals
this way all the time?

Yeah, her habit is like that.

Every time? Yeah.

She's really young.

I don't think she totally knows
how to kill prey.

This is a really young tiger.

Of course,
that was the behaviour of a cub.

That was the behaviour of a tiger
that had not broken away yet

from its mother, had not yet become
a full adult tiger on its own.

No, she never kill it. She like to
keep it alive when she eats it.

That's because she doesn't
know how to eat.

This animal is really young.

I don't think she's been fully
taught by her mother

how to kill prey.

'You never want to watch an animal
be slowly tortured
before it's eaten,'

but it was the natural process of a
young tiger, playing with the prey.

Usually, it would usually be
with its mother, playing,

stalking, jumping on prey
until it eventually kills it.

That's how a tiger
learns how to hunt.

So, in actuality,

one thing that I did see today with
this particular young captive tiger

didn't seem to be bad at all.

If you don't go through
that process we watched today,

then there's no way that young tiger
could ever be set free.

It would just have to be put in a
captive enclosure or put to death.

Instead, this young tiger that can
just about kill a baby pig,

but probably wouldn't kill a human,

might be another candidate
for release.

For evidence that Tomy's
released tigers

haven't lost the ability to hunt,

Alan needs to find out if prey
is being taken locally.

Capturing a tiger with a kill
on his camera trap is a long shot.

OK...

But it's worth a check,
nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Tomy's team
finds other proof.

Alan!

Tiger faeces contain
evidence of their last victims.

Oh, look at that, this has,
I think that's sambar deer here.

See, the reason it's so soft
is because most of it is meat.

When they eat the meat...

This tiger just dumped here,

because this sun has not
dried out one bit.

It's not got any influence of the
sun. This tiger is very close.

The only fresher it could be
is if it were steaming.

I wouldn't want to be walking
in a forest where man-eaters have

been released and not have a man
with a gun with me.

I'd feel much better - in fact,
I'd feel better

if that gun was out of that bag,
frankly.

The amount of time it takes him
to get that gun out of the bag...

Even if you shot it point blank,
while it was dying,

it would still kill you first.

Ooh, you smell that?

Hmm.

Smells like a kill.

I don't like what I smell.

Smell it?

It probably ate,
it's probably dumped,

it's probably walking around and
it's going to probably come back.

Boy, there was a flash of orange -

I thought for sure it was
the tiger lying there.

The last tiger kill
I found, in India,

the tiger was right nearby,
it came right at me.

I was on an elephant, fortunately.

We got a kill. Smell this!

We got a kill over here,
it smells like a kill.

Come here.

No, I can smell it.

Oh, yeah. You smell.

It might have stashed it there.
It might be right here.

The tiger could be in this
area right now,

laying over its kill, wondering
when we are going to go away.

Is this tiger one of Tomy's
alleged murderers?

Stay near the guy with
the green bag.

The camera trap may hold some clues.

The first trap...

..is a trap put right near
a very fresh tiger track,

along a sandy road by the beach.

Ha! First photo!
You beautiful beast, you.

Look at that, look at that,
you're kidding me.

Walks right up
in front of that camera.

It knows it's got to mark this area
because we've been there.

Look at that. It squats, scrapes.

What beautiful marking behaviour!

This is a great shot.

This is not common to be so,
so lucky.

Just walking by.

Boy, this clearly is a road
that these tigers like to use.

What we're going to have to
do now, we have some really

clear footage of the marking
pattern of at least this tiger.

Ah! Turned, came right back
the other way.

That's perfect, we have both sides,

we have striped patterns
on both sides.

Now we go to Trap Five.

This is the trap that we
put on the scraped tree,

right before the
rehabilitation centre

with the captive man-eating tigers.

Oh, look at that!
Oh, a tiger in broad daylight!

Look at that one.
This is, this is interesting.

A tiger has come right up to the
trap, and is sniffing.

This...

I think that this tiger might
want to scratch its tree,

and instead it's
encountered our trap.

Oh, that's a beautiful shot,

great shot of the striped patterns
on its left side.

That is beautiful.

And like a tiger, it just sniffs
it and walks off,

right past the camera, in the
direction of the rehab centre.

Really interesting.

Alan's traps also show it's not
just a tiger highway.

Humans are sharing the same routes.

Now, this data is potentially very,
very important for this area.

A tiger with its own home range,
marking a tree,

and not attacking passers-by.

But is it a tiger Tomy's set free?

What we have to do now is match
these stripe patterns

of the tigers in these photos

with the stripe patterns of the
five tigers they've released.

Could this be Panti,

the lone tigress that survived
the tiny holding cages?

With the computer, I could take that
shot, I can blow it up,

and I've got this very distinctive,
kind of, dark, black mass.

Then what I did is I compared
several photos

that they had taken of Panti.

Beautiful, beautiful female.

That looks surprisingly like that
other female we got that photo of.

I go back to that photo, it looks,
it looks very similar.

Fortunately they also got the other
side of Panti, Panti running off.

So you compare that to the other
side of that same animal,

and sure enough, using both sides,

looks like that female,
Panti, that was released.

Looks in beautiful shape, maybe even
have gained a little weight,

and she's roaming in the forest.

This is evidence, that they have not
been able to show me yet,

that one of their released tigers

has actually really settled
in this area long term, marks,

does everything normally,
and is doing well.

Panti has made her home here,
living alongside Tomy's workers,

and leaving them well alone.

Photographic evidence
of a successful reintroduction

is a breakthrough for both
Tomy and Alan.

But for Alan, the lack of other
scientific data is a big issue.

The very first thing I, as a
scientist, asked for, was the data.

Frankly, I have been shown nothing.
I have been shown nothing.

So I want to talk to the people
who are responsible

for determining how and if
these animals get free.

And I want to find out
where the hell the data is.

All roads seem to lead
to the government's own centre.

They should know what's going on.

CAR HORNS BEEP

Hello? Hello?

Tony Sumampau is the scientist
in charge.

Hello.

Hello. Hello.

Nice to see you.
How are you?

Good.

It looks from the films that
all of them had GPS collars.

That's true, yeah.

But nobody can show me any data.

The person who hold the data
is all gone now.

So somebody took the data away?

They don't know where
they are putting the data.

But we still keep some of the data,
if you want to have a look,

I can show it to you.
I would like to see that.

This is our data centre.

Oh, very nice.
This is the data centre.

Alan is eager to examine
any data to discover

what he can about the tigers'
movements after their release.

How far do they roam?
Where do they go?

Have they settled near the villages?

This is the release site.

Now, over what time period is that?

Because that doesn't look like
six months of data.

The one thing the data reveals
is that the released tigers

spent a lot of time
close to the village.

Ah, this second release...

At the start of the project,
villagers' livestock went missing.

But that soon stopped.
The data reveals why.

After a few weeks, the tigers
roamed further afield,

and probably caught their own prey.

Tomy hopes the tigers
released on his land

will move away into the neighbouring
national park and beyond,

along green corridors, to the north.

But do you think there could be
connections all the way from Aceh?
Yes.

Do you think tigers could
make their way all the way through?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

The Northern Province of Aceh

still contains relatively
untouched wilderness.

So tigers should be safer here.

But poachers catching animals
for food or the black market

lay traps that snare
indiscriminately.

Amateur footage records a tigress
caught in a deer trap.

She struggles against the wire
noose for three days.

Unable to free herself,
eat or drink.

Eventually, she dies
a slow and painful death.

To protect Tomy's tigers,

remote guard posts line
the border of his land.

The guards need regular deliveries
of vital supplies.

They are the front line

in defending Tomy's conservation
efforts across the reserve.

The red packages contain food,
and money, for the guards.

RADIO COMMUNICATION

The national park that borders
Tomy's estate

is where Tomy hopes
his tigers will migrate.

It should offer plenty of prey
and territory for its new arrivals,

but illegal logging in the park
is taking an unexpected toll.

This is the border?

The difference explains why Tomy
protects his assets

with an iron fist.

Oh!

So is there mining
going on in there now?

THEY LAUGH

That's right!

Boy! You must be under a lot
of pressure to open that up.

Really?

THEY LAUGH

Tomy is definitely charismatic,

and I like him a lot, so far.
I like him personally.

He and I, I don't know
if this is good or not,

he and I seem to have very similar
character traits in many ways.

How much money have you
spent in this area?

Over $20 million.

More than 20 million US dollars.
Yes.

That's quite impressive.

If you calculate with my time and my
people's time, you times three.

That isn't even including your time!

TOMY LAUGHS

That's...

That's not an outrageous
amount of money.

To me, that's not
an unreasonable sum.

If you were to say that globally,

in order to really bring back
tigers well,

that we need somewhere in the area
of $30 to $50 million per year

to save the tiger as a species.

Is that an unreasonable figure?

I don't think so.

Not if we really care about
what we say with the tiger.

We just... Governments and people
and organisations have not been

putting their money where
their mouth is, that's the problem.

There's no protection. Yes!
That's why everything is dying.

This activity, now we do,
is how to protect.

Tomy's reserve is better
protected from logging

and poaching than some areas inside
the neighbouring national park.

It's crazy how so many rumours,
about why the...

I don't understand why the people...

You have also heard the rumours?

Yeah! As soon as people found out
I was coming here,

they started telling me rumours.

Very easy, very easy.

Like Salma, Tomy's scheme
may not be as dangerous

as its critics make out.

Alan's findings - the safe area,
the rich prey,

the lack of incidents - may all help
her return to the wild again.

SALMA GROWLS

And there's news of the released
female Alan's identified - Panti.

She's seen with a wound to her paw.

A wounded tiger is
a dangerous tiger.

Tomy's team take her back
into captivity to let her paw heal.

Their reward is unexpected.
She gives birth to a litter of cubs.

CUBS GROWL SOFTLY

This, more than any other evidence,
proves,

as long as they are
in protected areas,

tigers previously caught up
in conflict can be released

without problems, and breed.

Panti's cubs are doing well,

and soon they and their mother
will be released again.

Then they will be free to roam
the forests made safe from humans,

made safe by Tomy.

So clearly, something nice
is happening in Tambling.

And Tomy is trying to do
the right thing,

and I think he actually
has done the right thing,

whether by serendipity or by design.
I think it's a mixture of both.

People can say a lot of things
about Tomy, but clearly he's

taken his little piece of real
estate in this large landscape,

and he has gone a long way to
addressing the number one problem

in tiger conservation,
and that's humans,

and that's people living in a place,
degrading habitat,

and killing the tigers,
and killing prey.

Now, many, many scientists say,

"Wait a second, these people
know nothing about science,

"there's probably another agenda."

Well, I think that often,
there's always another agenda,

even with scientists.

But with some of these
businesspeople,

they're people who have a hobby,
who love nature, like Tomy.

They want to do, do something right,
want to do something nice.

MUSIC: "Care 4 U"
by Example

# You can blame me, try to shame me

# And still I'll care for you

# The world may think I'm foolish

# They can't see you

# Like I can

# Oh, but anyone

# Who knows what love is

# Will understand. #

There is still so much wild land,

still so much wilderness
on that huge island,

that it appears that the Sumatran
tiger could have a really good shot.

Seeing what's possible,
seeing the numbers of tigers,

females with cubs,
in this tiny little place,

seeing what's possible there

gives me a lot of hope
on the rest of Sumatra.

I think the Sumatran tiger probably
has a better shot

than most other races of tigers
in the world.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd