WEBVTT - Roaring back to life: Tigers rebounding in Thailand 0:00:02.799 --> 0:00:05.059 You're listening to a CNA podcast. 0:00:06.550 --> 0:00:12.550 Tigers, such an iconic animal, powerful and elusive, they've roamed 0:00:12.550 --> 0:00:16.790 Southeast Asia for thousands of years, but they're endangered. And 0:00:16.790 --> 0:00:20.329 in the wild, chances are you'll never come close to one. 0:00:20.709 --> 0:00:24.790 Today we have the good news about tiger conservation in 0:00:24.790 --> 0:00:29.149 the region. Hello and welcome to Climate Conversations. I'm Jack Bod. 0:00:29.270 --> 0:00:30.739 Hello Lee Ling Tan, as always. 0:00:31.299 --> 0:00:34.580 Good to see you. Have you ever? No, I actually haven't. 0:00:34.598 --> 0:00:37.819 The closest I've been to seeing any kind of wild 0:00:37.819 --> 0:00:42.380 cats in the wild is at a national park in 0:00:42.380 --> 0:00:45.369 mountain lion territory. So that was a little bit scary, 0:00:45.549 --> 0:00:48.099 but I didn't see. No, no, no, I was in 0:00:48.098 --> 0:00:51.418 mountain lion territory. I was walking my little tiny miniature 0:00:51.418 --> 0:00:55.860 dog in mountain lion territory without realizing. Anyway, never seen 0:00:55.860 --> 0:00:59.009 a tiger, that's for sure, but I'm guessing you have. 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:02.040 No, I've never, never seen a tiger in the wild. No, 0:01:02.159 --> 0:01:06.599 I think it's extremely difficult, um, and very rare for 0:01:06.599 --> 0:01:08.599 that to happen. They're, they're pretty um. 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:13.110 They're pretty elusive. So, no, I tried to, as we'll 0:01:13.110 --> 0:01:18.069 discuss in the story coming up today, but unfortunately, no 0:01:18.069 --> 0:01:20.480 sightings for me except on the camera trap. You know, 0:01:20.550 --> 0:01:23.269 they could be looking at you without you realizing, right? 0:01:23.410 --> 0:01:27.989 They're so stealthy. Yeah. OK. Let's see how stealthy you 0:01:27.989 --> 0:01:32.819 are with this quiz. We are talking about endangered species today, 0:01:32.989 --> 0:01:34.509 tiger being one of them. 0:01:34.980 --> 0:01:38.559 I want to know how well you know some of 0:01:38.559 --> 0:01:42.110 the other animals in our part of the world, how 0:01:42.110 --> 0:01:44.389 many of them are left in the wild. 0:01:45.589 --> 0:01:49.309 Lee Ling, can you rank these animals by their estimated 0:01:49.309 --> 0:01:51.629 wild population number? 0:01:52.559 --> 0:01:56.760 So we've got the Indo-Chinese tiger. There are several types 0:01:56.760 --> 0:02:00.879 of tigers in Southeast Asia. I'm talking about the Indo-Chinese 0:02:00.879 --> 0:02:05.040 tiger that you would find in Thailand, for example. We 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.120 have the Siamese crocodile. 0:02:08.190 --> 0:02:10.919 We have the Sumatran rhino. 0:02:11.830 --> 0:02:15.070 And we have the Sumatran orangutan. 0:02:16.399 --> 0:02:22.679 So inter-Chinese tigers, Siamese crocodiles, Sumatra rhino, what was it? 0:02:22.729 --> 0:02:29.728 Sumatran orangutan, um, from smallest population to largest? Or. Anyway, you, 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.279 you want to do it. All right, so let's let's 0:02:32.279 --> 0:02:34.080 have a think about it so we give our listeners 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:36.520 a chance to think about it too, and then they 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:39.519 can write their comments and we'll see. OK. See how 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:40.758 well you do at home, see if you can beat 0:02:40.758 --> 0:02:42.880 Li Ling on this one. Answers at the end of 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:43.258 the podcast. 0:02:44.589 --> 0:02:48.389 Now for our main story this week. So, I'm sitting 0:02:48.389 --> 0:02:51.160 on the back of a pickup truck traversing along a 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:55.859 dirt trail through thick and dry evergreen forest. This is 0:02:56.100 --> 0:03:00.070 the home to all sorts of animals, black bears, elephants 0:03:00.070 --> 0:03:03.440 to piers, but today the research crew and national park 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:07.949 rangers are on a tiger hunt, one designed to save 0:03:07.949 --> 0:03:12.270 the big cats. Their traps of choice are camera traps. 0:03:12.940 --> 0:03:19.139 This is Meirong National Park, some 360 kilometers northwest of Bangkok, 0:03:19.460 --> 0:03:23.508 and it's here that tigers are making a big comeback. 0:03:23.699 --> 0:03:24.059 So wait. 0:03:24.389 --> 0:03:27.570 It sounds like you were having an Indiana Jones moment there, Jack, 0:03:27.740 --> 0:03:32.020 or perhaps, or perhaps channeling David Attenborough, you know, our 0:03:32.020 --> 0:03:35.660 story begins in the glistening jungles of Thailand's vast western 0:03:35.660 --> 0:03:40.860 forest complex, where the Indo-Chinese tiger is staging a remarkable comeback. 0:03:41.179 --> 0:03:43.139 Very good, very good accent. Yeah. 0:03:43.375 --> 0:03:46.175 Was it exciting? Did you manage to, did you manage 0:03:46.175 --> 0:03:48.294 to find tigers? You said earlier you didn't, so that's 0:03:48.294 --> 0:03:51.695 a shame. But how close were you really? And were 0:03:51.695 --> 0:03:54.175 you at any point nervous that you might be in 0:03:54.175 --> 0:03:58.695 the proximity of, you know, what, a 200 pound wild cat? No, 0:03:58.904 --> 0:04:00.845 I don't think I was nervous. I just think like the, 0:04:00.854 --> 0:04:05.244 the chances of seeing them during the day as we 0:04:05.244 --> 0:04:08.294 trundle along in a, you know, a 4 wheel drive 0:04:08.294 --> 0:04:10.134 was pretty limited. 0:04:10.619 --> 0:04:13.229 And really, we're not, we weren't really looking for the 0:04:13.229 --> 0:04:18.019 tigers themselves. Of course, they were out there roaming somewhere, 0:04:18.589 --> 0:04:21.070 but they are very hard to spot and, and generally 0:04:21.070 --> 0:04:24.579 not very keen on people. So we were headed towards 0:04:24.790 --> 0:04:26.989 a salt lick in the middle of the park. So 0:04:26.988 --> 0:04:29.659 this kind of just looks like a big mud pit. 0:04:29.988 --> 0:04:32.018 I don't know if you've been on a safari before, 0:04:32.079 --> 0:04:35.869 but animals get attracted to these types of places. It's 0:04:35.869 --> 0:04:37.709 the source of a lot of important, 0:04:38.238 --> 0:04:41.678 Minerals that animals need. And this one was actually artificially 0:04:41.678 --> 0:04:45.119 created and it becomes sort of this meeting place where 0:04:45.119 --> 0:04:48.440 tigers like to wander around looking for prey, and of 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.750 course where the prey tends to congregate at different times 0:04:51.750 --> 0:04:54.399 of the day. And that's what these cameras that are 0:04:54.399 --> 0:04:57.589 installed here are trying to capture, the signs of life. 0:04:57.839 --> 0:04:59.849 So we're standing there in the middle of the jungle, 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:04.839 looking at a a laptop, scanning for this automatically detected 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:06.679 movement of various animals. 0:05:07.190 --> 0:05:10.989 And there's a lot, including elephants who routinely like to 0:05:10.988 --> 0:05:13.779 knock over the trees that contain the cameras. When we arrived, 0:05:13.790 --> 0:05:15.268 the the camera was just kind of like, 0:05:16.260 --> 0:05:18.779 Tied with a chain to the tree, but the tree 0:05:18.779 --> 0:05:21.049 was just lying on the ground. And then, of course, 0:05:21.339 --> 0:05:24.660 as well, there were bones scattered on the ground. So 0:05:24.660 --> 0:05:27.380 that was kind of interesting to show that tigers had 0:05:27.380 --> 0:05:31.609 been around as well. What about tiger poo, like scat? 0:05:35.869 --> 0:05:36.019 Was that something you guys were looking out for one 0:05:36.019 --> 0:05:38.419 of the first things that the teams noticed that there 0:05:38.420 --> 0:05:40.980 was scat of various animals which showed that this was 0:05:40.980 --> 0:05:42.730 a busy part of of the jungle. 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:45.369 And a paw print as well of a of a 0:05:45.369 --> 0:05:49.010 large cat. And when you say automatically detected, were these 0:05:49.010 --> 0:05:52.488 cameras that came with motion sensors and night vision and 0:05:52.488 --> 0:05:54.450 were they just installed in different parts, OK. 0:05:54.809 --> 0:05:57.760 But how many were installed, I mean, the Western Forest 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:02.290 Complex is massive, right? It's got 11 national parks, 6 0:06:02.290 --> 0:06:06.609 wildlife sanctuaries. How do you track the tiger population in 0:06:06.609 --> 0:06:09.880 an area like that? Yeah, exactly, you're right, that this, 0:06:09.970 --> 0:06:14.209 this is an extremely large complex. It's more than 18,000 0:06:14.209 --> 0:06:19.049 square kilometers. So it basically stretches along this flank, Thailand's 0:06:19.049 --> 0:06:20.290 flank with Myanmar. 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:25.589 Uh, it's actually the largest forest track in mainland Southeast Asia. 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.839 So this is a huge area, 11 national parks, as 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:34.000 you said, uh, camera traps in strategic places. They're obviously 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.290 not putting cameras. 0:06:35.660 --> 0:06:39.089 Just everywhere because that would be a waste of resources, 0:06:39.100 --> 0:06:41.859 and of course the rangers have to every now and 0:06:41.859 --> 0:06:44.539 then go and visit these cameras to kind of understand 0:06:44.540 --> 0:06:48.570 what's been happening. So, they tend to strategically place them 0:06:49.059 --> 0:06:52.140 where they know animals like to congregate. And so by 0:06:52.140 --> 0:06:54.070 creating this salt lick. 0:06:54.649 --> 0:06:57.410 They can draw animals to that spot. So that's what 0:06:57.410 --> 0:07:00.290 they've done in this case. OK, so we know for 0:07:00.290 --> 0:07:03.719 decades that tiger numbers around the world have been dwindling, 0:07:04.010 --> 0:07:08.929 and this is due largely to hunting, poaching, habitat loss, 0:07:09.209 --> 0:07:12.089 infectious diseases as well. I think now globally we've got 0:07:12.089 --> 0:07:15.359 something like 5000 tigers in the wild, am I right? 0:07:17.089 --> 0:07:19.359 You've mentioned in your article too that numbers have been 0:07:19.359 --> 0:07:23.149 rebounding slowly but surely in countries like India and Nepal, 0:07:23.399 --> 0:07:28.079 but they have largely been declining in Southeast Asia and Thailand, 0:07:28.119 --> 0:07:30.869 you say is bucking this overall trend in the region. 0:07:30.959 --> 0:07:35.570 That's right. So right now in Mei Wong alone, there 0:07:35.570 --> 0:07:38.320 are 9 tigers that are believed to be living in 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:39.410 just this national park. 0:07:39.929 --> 0:07:42.709 So that doesn't really sound like many, right? But there 0:07:42.709 --> 0:07:45.790 were probably none going back just a few years. And 0:07:45.790 --> 0:07:50.630 this wasn't even protected land until 1987. So Thailand is 0:07:50.630 --> 0:07:53.290 doing something differently. It is bucking the trend as you, 0:07:53.390 --> 0:07:54.019 as you say. 0:07:54.989 --> 0:08:00.100 Now across Thailand, there's estimated to be between 179 and 0:08:00.100 --> 0:08:05.540 223 adult tigers in the wild, and the numbers are growing. 0:08:05.950 --> 0:08:09.589 And there's a lot of potential for these protected landscapes 0:08:09.589 --> 0:08:13.709 where they are starting to flourish, to carry many more tigers. 0:08:13.829 --> 0:08:18.350 The WeFCO, which is the Western Forest complex, could potentially 0:08:18.350 --> 0:08:22.070 support up to 2000 tigers, given the right protections, according 0:08:22.070 --> 0:08:22.989 to some experts. 0:08:23.679 --> 0:08:27.209 And I interviewed Alex McWilliam, who is the regional coordinator 0:08:27.209 --> 0:08:31.850 for species and habitats at the International Union for Conservation 0:08:31.850 --> 0:08:32.449 of Nature. 0:08:33.309 --> 0:08:37.340 He explains the global situation that's going on with tigers, 0:08:37.429 --> 0:08:41.659 some of these numbers, and also why tigers are important 0:08:41.659 --> 0:08:43.270 for an ecosystem. Tigers 0:08:43.270 --> 0:08:47.940 are endangered, unfortunately, and I think we need to remember 0:08:48.239 --> 0:08:51.849 that just over 100 years ago there were more than 0:08:51.849 --> 0:08:56.030 100,000 tigers that occurred on our planet, and that means 0:08:56.030 --> 0:08:59.460 that there's been an almost 95% reduction in the number 0:08:59.460 --> 0:09:02.640 of tigers in just the last 100 years. 0:09:03.380 --> 0:09:09.140 Um, and now tigers only occur in 10 countries across Asia, and, uh, 0:09:09.150 --> 0:09:12.909 they only inhabit around 7% of the land area that 0:09:12.909 --> 0:09:17.229 they once lived in, uh, over time. Tigers are an 0:09:17.229 --> 0:09:20.510 important part of an ecosystem. They are a top tier 0:09:20.510 --> 0:09:23.320 predator in those ecosystems, and. 0:09:23.869 --> 0:09:27.340 If we have healthy tiger populations, that means that we 0:09:27.340 --> 0:09:33.150 also have healthy populations of other species. We have uh 0:09:33.150 --> 0:09:39.539 good uh biodiversity in those areas, and that means that, uh, overall, 0:09:39.590 --> 0:09:44.659 the system, uh of forest, the forest is a complete 0:09:44.789 --> 0:09:46.179 and working well. 0:09:46.789 --> 0:09:49.549 He also told me about the benefits to humans that 0:09:49.549 --> 0:09:52.950 are pretty clear as well from having tiger populations that 0:09:52.950 --> 0:09:53.549 are healthy. 0:09:54.039 --> 0:09:57.459 And tiger conservation efforts do more than just protect tigers, 0:09:57.530 --> 0:10:01.559 they can improve things like economic security for local population, 0:10:01.650 --> 0:10:05.010 they can strengthen food and water systems and also empower 0:10:05.010 --> 0:10:08.650 communities in the land that they inhabit. So how do 0:10:08.650 --> 0:10:09.799 healthy tiger population 0:10:10.159 --> 0:10:14.080 actually lead to healthy populations of other species like, you know, 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.400 prey species. I mean more tigers mean they need more prey, right? 0:10:17.479 --> 0:10:21.359 Wouldn't the prey population deplete? So you're right, they're not 0:10:21.359 --> 0:10:24.949 just focusing on the tigers because it's the prey that 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:25.599 that matters. 0:10:26.510 --> 0:10:28.669 Yes, the tigers are hungry, they're gonna eat, they're gonna 0:10:28.669 --> 0:10:31.829 eat the prey. And that's why we're calling them, that's 0:10:31.830 --> 0:10:35.630 why we're calling them the prey. Right, yes. If they 0:10:35.630 --> 0:10:38.390 have these food sources, they can expand their territories. They 0:10:38.390 --> 0:10:41.270 can grow in population. And in Maerong, actually what they're 0:10:41.270 --> 0:10:44.429 doing is focusing on increasing the number of deer, for example, 0:10:44.489 --> 0:10:48.390 and Bang, and they've already begun work on these dedicated 0:10:48.390 --> 0:10:52.179 off-site breeding centers of those particular species. 0:10:52.570 --> 0:10:55.119 Which when they're ready, they're gonna release into the wild. 0:10:55.369 --> 0:10:57.289 Oh wow. So I think that's kind of interesting like 0:10:57.289 --> 0:11:01.390 you're just rearing these deers and then you're like, OK, 0:11:01.530 --> 0:11:05.449 good luck out into the tiger habitat. That's interesting. So 0:11:05.450 --> 0:11:09.039 they're kind of plumping up the prey population to sustain. 0:11:09.609 --> 0:11:13.789 The increasing tiger population, that makes sense. Now, the other 0:11:13.789 --> 0:11:17.228 thing is, we know, Jack, that conservation generally is really 0:11:17.229 --> 0:11:20.559 slow and also very tough to execute effectively. How did 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:24.070 Thailand manage to do what so many others couldn't? Yeah, 0:11:24.109 --> 0:11:27.000 that's a key point that experts I spoke to have made, 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.409 that this is such a difficult thing to do. Like 0:11:29.409 --> 0:11:33.630 saving a species involves so many moving pieces. 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:37.880 So let me unpack a little why Thailand has succeeded 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:40.280 in this case, or is succeeding. Of course, it's not 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:42.679 the end of the story. It's not to say the 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:46.348 situation is perfect and that there aren't many other issues with, 0:11:46.359 --> 0:11:50.960 with landscapes, with protected areas, with communities, other species. But 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:55.119 in this western forest complex, I think what has been 0:11:55.119 --> 0:12:00.010 important is this holistic and long-term approach to environmental management 0:12:00.010 --> 0:12:04.089 with a goal in mind, which is to allow tigers to, 0:12:04.539 --> 0:12:10.689 Expand and to survive. Firstly, I think Thailand has prioritized 0:12:10.690 --> 0:12:14.000 gazetting large areas of land for protection, and then you 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:17.289 add the other ingredients. In this case, it's scientific research. 0:12:17.380 --> 0:12:22.419 It's the species monitoring, actually knowing what animals and how 0:12:22.419 --> 0:12:25.929 many of them are out there, and that's the camera traps. 0:12:26.380 --> 0:12:29.329 Then the smart patrols, like the one I went on, 0:12:29.570 --> 0:12:32.030 and the local information campaigns. 0:12:32.669 --> 0:12:36.510 To involve local communities. So the answer I think is 0:12:36.510 --> 0:12:40.390 to have data to understand the situation. This data, if 0:12:40.390 --> 0:12:43.459 you look back even 15 years ago, it's very vague. 0:12:43.750 --> 0:12:46.429 We have rough ideas of how many tigers are out there. 0:12:47.109 --> 0:12:50.449 And then you have the, the buy-in from various groups. 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:54.400 And I think overall, this situation is helped by the 0:12:54.400 --> 0:13:00.510 iconic nature of the tiger itself. And another expert told me, quote, 0:13:00.619 --> 0:13:05.650 There's very few iconic species or issues quite as compelling 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:07.280 as tiger conservation. 0:13:07.739 --> 0:13:12.080 And that's very powerful and has largely been capitalized on 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.598 in Thailand. These are dangerous creatures and they don't like 0:13:15.599 --> 0:13:21.000 to live with or near people generally. What considerations are 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:24.780 there about the human-wildlife conflict? You quoted Mick William in 0:13:24.780 --> 0:13:29.718 your article saying that overall tigers coming closer into contact 0:13:29.719 --> 0:13:33.599 with humans can be very negative and we're talking about 0:13:33.599 --> 0:13:36.989 damage to property, but also loss of life, right? 0:13:38.099 --> 0:13:41.570 What protections are there then for both man and beast 0:13:41.570 --> 0:13:45.849 when tiger populations increase and they venture into where people live, 0:13:46.500 --> 0:13:51.468 because that would kind of be scary. There's definitely a, 0:13:51.500 --> 0:13:56.848 a balancing act between population numbers and where these tigers 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:58.950 will choose to roam, because, 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:03.679 As someone told me, the tigers don't have passports. They 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.719 don't have a sense of this is the end of 0:14:06.719 --> 0:14:10.159 their boundaries. They will go where there is food, and 0:14:10.159 --> 0:14:13.439 tigers are wide roaming animals, and they will come into 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:16.479 contact with people, and they will kill livestock. They could 0:14:16.479 --> 0:14:19.679 kill people. And we've seen some of these issues actually 0:14:19.679 --> 0:14:24.590 occurring in India and Nepal where very successful conservation has 0:14:24.590 --> 0:14:27.559 led to more human wildlife contact. 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.280 That's right. So a lot of this is around the 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:37.000 fragmentation of our natural landscapes. Are we creating corridors for 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:41.320 wildlife to move safely and be away from humans, or 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.590 are we breaking down the connectivity between forests, for example, 0:14:45.679 --> 0:14:50.530 are we building new roads? Are we building new agricultural 0:14:50.530 --> 0:14:55.210 lands that would cause tigers to come into contact with people? So. 0:14:55.619 --> 0:14:59.059 There are a lot of considerations about land management, how 0:14:59.059 --> 0:15:03.460 we gazette land in certain ways. Community forests play a 0:15:03.460 --> 0:15:06.260 big role in this, that's, they're the buffer zones between 0:15:06.260 --> 0:15:11.619 animals and people. Both are benefiting from that shared space, so. 0:15:12.599 --> 0:15:14.590 Yeah, a lot of strategies and a lot of thought 0:15:14.590 --> 0:15:16.770 going into this, but you're right, it will be a 0:15:16.770 --> 0:15:20.590 consideration if these conservation programs continue to work well. 0:15:21.750 --> 0:15:23.549 If you want to read more and see some of 0:15:23.549 --> 0:15:27.409 the images of the tigers captured on camera traps throughout 0:15:27.409 --> 0:15:32.840 Mei Wong, go and check out Jack Bor's story on CNA.Asia. Ah, 0:15:32.950 --> 0:15:36.159 very kind of you. Yes, you're welcome. The videos on 0:15:36.159 --> 0:15:37.429 YouTube as well. You can check it out. 0:15:41.380 --> 0:15:47.429 OK, now it's weather time update, it's still cool in Thailand. 0:15:47.539 --> 0:15:50.099 It's ridiculous. I told you it's gonna be cool for 0:15:50.099 --> 0:15:53.659 a while. Not much has changed since the last we 0:15:53.659 --> 0:15:55.969 talked about the weather in Bangkok, and you can continue 0:15:55.969 --> 0:16:00.099 to expect that. So first, let's start with Singapore, and 0:16:00.099 --> 0:16:03.969 this is based on a collection of various weather sources, 0:16:03.979 --> 0:16:07.729 including my cell phone. So in Singapore, expect rain. 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:15.260 What, not scientific enough for you. So in Singapore. 0:16:15.830 --> 0:16:19.549 In Singapore, expect rainy days with a possible break in 0:16:19.549 --> 0:16:23.229 the clouds this Saturday. Mild temperatures won't get hotter than 0:16:23.229 --> 0:16:27.219 32 °C. In Kuala Lumpur, you'll see a mixed bag 0:16:27.219 --> 0:16:30.400 of rain and sun as well, with similar conditions in Bangkok, 0:16:30.510 --> 0:16:34.109 where Jackboard is sunny all day, every day for the 0:16:34.109 --> 0:16:39.219 next few days, with highs of 34 °C. But yes, 0:16:39.549 --> 0:16:42.659 you know, you still get that coolish climate for now. 0:16:42.950 --> 0:16:48.669 In Hanoi, mild conditions with some cloud cover and cool breezes. Jakarta, Nusantara, 0:16:48.739 --> 0:16:51.940 very high chance of rain, rain, and more rain for 0:16:51.940 --> 0:16:54.659 the next few days. Back to you, Jack. 0:16:55.780 --> 0:17:00.109 OK, back to our quiz question. To repeat it for you, 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:05.119 can you rank these endangered species by their estimated wild 0:17:05.310 --> 0:17:12.150 population number? The animals again, the Indo-Chinese tiger, the Siamese crocodile. 0:17:13.300 --> 0:17:18.540 The Sumatran rhino and the Sumatran orangutan. 0:17:19.790 --> 0:17:22.889 OK, so I'm going to start with the smallest population 0:17:22.890 --> 0:17:26.639 and I'm going to go with the Sumatran rhino, because 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.640 you know, rhino horn poaching and all that. And then 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.439 I'm going to go with the, I'm going to go 0:17:32.439 --> 0:17:38.729 with the Sumatran orangutan and then Indo-Chinese tiger, and then 0:17:38.729 --> 0:17:43.760 Siamese crocodile. OK, so. 0:17:44.180 --> 0:17:49.260 You, that's 11 is correct. 1 is correct. But you 0:17:49.260 --> 0:17:51.579 just have one out of place, which is ruining everything 0:17:51.579 --> 0:17:55.619 for you. Um, you're correct that the Sumatran rhino is 0:17:55.619 --> 0:17:59.829 the most endangered. Less than 50 now in the wild. 0:18:00.020 --> 0:18:04.540 So a precarious situation for them. The second most endangered 0:18:04.540 --> 0:18:07.650 is the Indo-Chinese tiger, that we've been talking about throughout 0:18:07.650 --> 0:18:09.819 throughout this episode. Uh. 0:18:10.420 --> 0:18:12.839 About 300. Of course all of these numbers are just 0:18:12.839 --> 0:18:16.599 rough estimates, and they change with time and with conservation, 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:18.119 but about 300 of those. 0:18:19.199 --> 0:18:24.849 The Siamese crocodile is 3rd, only about 500 in the wild, 0:18:24.900 --> 0:18:25.719 which is, 0:18:26.569 --> 0:18:29.550 Pretty surprising given that we have just. 0:18:30.510 --> 0:18:33.819 Thousands and thousands and thousands of them in crocodile farms, 0:18:34.030 --> 0:18:36.630 but in the wild. But not in the wild. Oh 0:18:36.630 --> 0:18:40.349 my goodness, OK. Yeah. Yeah, and most of those are 0:18:40.390 --> 0:18:44.510 are in Cambodia who's been enjoying some, some conservation success 0:18:44.510 --> 0:18:48.510 with those crocodiles. And the least endangered, but still endangered 0:18:48.510 --> 0:18:57.420 is the orangutan, there's about 14,000 of those particular friendly critters. Hay, orange. 0:18:57.790 --> 0:19:00.419 Friendly critters, are there numbers going up or down, do 0:19:00.420 --> 0:19:00.770 you know? 0:19:01.770 --> 0:19:03.530 Because there was so much attention on them. There are 0:19:03.530 --> 0:19:07.119 different types of orangutans as well, like there are with rhinos, crocodiles, etc. 0:19:07.469 --> 0:19:11.569 So um don't, don't press me too too hard. 0:19:13.260 --> 0:19:18.390 OK, I won't. All right. OK. That's it for this 0:19:18.390 --> 0:19:20.869 episode of Climate Conversations. Thanks for joining us. Please give 0:19:20.869 --> 0:19:23.629 us some feedback or come and connect with us on 0:19:23.630 --> 0:19:26.030 LinkedIn if you like. We're there. We're sharing stuff all 0:19:26.030 --> 0:19:28.869 the time. And thank you for joining us. This is 0:19:28.869 --> 0:19:31.030 Lee Ling Tan. I hope you did better than I 0:19:31.030 --> 0:19:35.020 did in today's quiz. Until next week. Bye-bye. I'm Jack Board. 0:19:35.189 --> 0:19:38.750 Thanks as always to the team that put together this podcast, Ajambala, 0:19:38.949 --> 0:19:43.020 Sai Ye Win, Tiffany Ung, Janai Jahari, and Christina Roberts.