Women In Science Series
The Malayan Tiger And Animal Conservation

Tackling Animal Conservation With Tiger Tenacity

By Rick Gregory

Tigers are solitary animals. They are not easily exposed unless they come out to prey on cattle.

They prefer to avoid people, not eat them.

Over one-hundred years ago, tigers roamed the forests of Singapore, Java and Bali; now they are all gone.

Today tiger strongholds remain in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia.

But just how many Malayan tigers remain is a daunting question and an even harder task to undertake.

Few people take on the challenge and no one had ever tangled with the jungles of Taman Negara.

Researchers can also be solitary souls. The passion and pursuit of knowledge drives some individuals to seek answers in out-of-the-way locations and under unimaginable conditions. “With the influence of TV, good or bad, people think wildlife research is glamorous,” says Dr. Kae Kawanishi. “In reality, it is a lot of sweaty, dirty, and bloody - in leech infested Asian forests - hard work.”

Reality, in this case, translated into nearly three years of slogging through the rainforest. Kawanishi and her team, made up of Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) staff and research assistants, spent 34 months loading up backpacks with heavy camera equipment to trek over hundreds of kilometres of forested slopes, debris laden streams and high mountain ridges. The grunt work of animal conservation.

Whether hiking the terrain under cottony blue skies or hidden behind curtains of monsoon rains, these intrepid researchers were intent to capture one thing: photographs.

Counting elusive tigers in the impenetrable foliage of the rainforest requires ingenuity and innovation. Using a technique called “camera trapping”, Kawanishi set up 135 motion-triggered cameras along the pathways and trails dissecting the jungle. Strapped with duct tape to small tree trunks and enclosed in metal casings, any rainforest animal crossing a sensor beam had its snapshot taken.

Camera Trap Cats: (clockwise) Malayan Tiger, Leopard, Golden Cat, Clouded Leopard

After countless bouts with sore feet, mosquito bites and soggy clothes to collect and change film, move trap locations and repair damaged wires, the team ensnared 4,336 photos. Only 61 images caught Malayan tigers on film. But these few pictures are clues to a much bigger story.

At the end of her field study, Dr. Kawanishi found some answers to fundamental questions impinging on tiger conservation: tiger population size, food availability, carrying capacity, human impacts and tiger extinction risk. Afterwards she studies the relationships of tigers, prey and human communities in a forest adjacent to Taman Negara, the most important tiger conservation unit in Malaysia.

“There often are more questions from an answer, so it’s a continuous exercise for the mind,” states Kae. “I enjoy all aspects of it: building hypotheses, collecting field data, analyzing, and then wondering some more.”

As a girl scout in Osaka, Japan, Kae learned the art of camping and a few survival skills at a young age. Hunting and fishing trips with her father further solidified her fondness for the outdoors. With a quest for more knowledge about wildlife, she ventured to America, where she eventually mentored under world renowned authorities in mammalogy, carnivore conservation and tiger ecology.

“Wildlife research is a wonderful way of life,” says Kae. “I’ve visited and lived in some of the most enchanting national parks in the world. To me the definition of success is when people pay me for doing what I love. A reward as a scientist is advancing intellectually and sharing the hard-earned knowledge with others.”

Success as a wildlife biologist usually comes with the pressure to maintain a professional standing at the expense of personal sacrifices. Fieldwork is a ruthless and all-consuming occupation. It demands time, time that is taken away from others.

“Fieldwork is hard on the family,” says Kae. “My humble advice for women getting into field biology is to gain as much experience and training as possible and publish your work before getting married or having a child.” Kae goes on to explain that certain fieldwork, like studying animal conservation, constantly challenges your psyche and body. And that you get stronger the more you endure.

But unless you are physically fit and enjoy extreme physical challenges, you won’t last long in an endurance race. Without endurance there is no data; hence no science to tell.

Despite the prominence of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, probably the most recognized female names in animal conservation, males still dominant the field. Dr Kawanishi was also scorned by some who tried to limit her pursuits “because you are a woman” or “because you are Japanese.” But she asserts that her quality of education in both Japan and America never had anything to do with her nationality or gender. Nor does she feel that her professional potential was thwarted or advanced due to being a woman.

“I feel delighted when people acknowledge and appreciate my work as an individual,” says Kae, “and not associate it with gender or any other social category.”

The tiger population work conducted by Dr. Kawanishi and the DWNP is a landmark study in the tigers' habitat of tropical rainforests. It represents the foundation for developing long term animal conservation plans to ensure protection for the Malayan Tiger into the next century.

It is even a more amazing feat to realize that Kae Kawanishi, despite seven years of wildlife research, has yet to see a single wild tiger in the rainforests of Malaysia.

For more information on efforts to save the Malayan tiger and how to participate in curbing the wildlife trade in illegal tiger products, visit the MYCAT website (active Nov 2009).

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