The Sunday Read: The Case of the Vanishing Jungle

Published: Aug. 22, 2021, 10 a.m.

b'In 2002, a survey revealed there were just 1.6 Sumatran tigers per 100 square kilometers in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, one of the last habitats for the critically endangered animal. In the fall of 2015, however, research suggested that the numbers had significantly improved: 2.8 tigers per 100 square kilometers.\\n\\nWhen Matt Leggett, a newly hired senior adviser for the Wildlife Conservation Society, looked at the data sets, satellite maps and spatial distribution grids, he couldn\\u2019t help noticing the forest. It seemed to be getting smaller.\\n\\nMatt wondered: Were the people looking at the same maps he was? Was he crazy? He was not crazy.'