Research overview: snaring, prey loss, and empty-forest risk for Sumatran tigers

Across Sumatra, widespread snaring depletes both tigers and their prey, hollowing out forests that still appear intact on satellite imagery. This overview surveys how indiscriminate wire snares set for deer and pigs also kill tigers, how prey depletion lowers tiger carrying capacity, and how this pressure compounds deforestation and climate stress. It reviews patrol and snare-removal efforts and the difficulty of controlling hunting across large, remote landscapes. The synthesis frames prey loss and snaring as a habitat-quality crisis distinct from forest cover, explaining why securing Sumatran tiger futures requires curbing hunting as well as halting conversion, since forest alone cannot sustain tigers without abundant prey to support them.