Zoo Tycoon players meet first Community Challenge supporting Sumatran Tiger Survival Program

Zoo Tycoon players have met the first Community Challenge with over 10,000 players selecting to support the Sumatran Tiger Survival Program.

In just a few weeks, players released 1,000 Sumatran Tigers into the wild in the game, and as a result of these efforts, Microsoft donated $10,000 to the Sumatran Tiger Survival Program.

The program is run by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which aims to help reduce the number of Sumatran Tigers killed, displaced or caught in snares.

A new developer diary, posted below, details how the conservation effort operates and how the funds will be used.

Dr. Peter Klein, deputy director of the Wildlife Conversation Society of Asia, said an estimated 300 of these remaining tigers are endangered due to habitat loss and human-tiger conflict. Approximately 15 tigers are killed every year due to human-tiger conflict, and the Wildlife Conservation Society has helped to drastically reduced the statistics to one tiger killed per year.

"Funds raised by the Zoo Tycoon community will be used to purchase more equipment to construct tiger-proofed enclosures and noise cannons to help push the tigers back into the forest, in addition to paying for staff travel costs to the remote villages where human-tiger conflict is most intense," said Microsoft.

Voting for the next Community Challenge is on now and players can vote to support Sumatran Elephants, Northern White Rhinos or Lesser Antillean Iguanas.