By: Dwina Sagitanova (Volunteer Panda Mobile)

On Thursday (09/02), WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile visited Mentari International School, Bintaro to deliver conservation education about Sumatran tigers and introduce the #DoubleTigers campaign. The campaign, initiated by WWF, aims to double the population of tigers in their natural habitat.

Panthera tigris sumatrae or the Sumatran tiger is one of the tiger subspecies endemic to the island of Sumatra whose numbers continue to decline in the wild. According to WWF-Indonesia, the total population of Sumatran tigers is estimated to be 371 individuals spread from Aceh to Lampung. The declining population of Sumatran tigers is heading towards the brink of extinction due to poaching and wildlife trade as well as the decreasing area of Sumatran forests as their home. Conflict between tigers and humans is also a trigger for the decreasing number of Sumatran tigers.

During the visit, Panda Mobile volunteers also introduced umbrella animals to students at Mentari International School, Bintaro. Umbrella animals or umbrella species are species that support the success of other species conservation efforts. In other words, protecting species categorized as umbrella species means indirectly protecting other species that form an ecological unit. Species that fall into the umbrella species category and are the focus of WWF-Indonesia's conservation efforts are elephants, rhinos, orangutans, whale sharks, sea turtles, and Sumatran tigers.

The students were also invited to watch a short movie about umbrella animals in nature and human greed for natural resources and animals. In addition, they were also shown the movie "We are Connected" which explains the interconnected lives of humans and animals.

High enthusiasm surrounded the visit of WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile team at Mentari International School, Bintaro. Various questions arose, ranging from the protection efforts made by WWF-Indonesia, species that are already rare in Indonesia, the reasons for the species to become extinct, to the most difficult species to find.