A tiger in the jungles of Indonesia has defied the odds and managed to survive, despite losing one of its front feet in a snare laid by poachers.

The Sumatran tiger is thought to have chewed off its foot or pulled its leg free from the wire, leaving the foot behind.

In normal circumstances the beast would have been expected to die from blood loss or an infection, or simply to starve to death because of a severely reduced capacity to hunt.

However, to the astonishment of conservationists, the tiger appears to have recovered from the loss and is managing to catch enough food to keep it healthy. “His condition seemed quite stable,” Sunarto, a WWF biologist in Sumatra, said. “He has been surviving – I don’t know how. It’s very surprising he’s still alive.”

Pictures of the tiger were taken by a WWF camera trap in the Sumatran jungle and show the male animal to be in a healthy condition, apart from the missing paw.

The photographs were taken in March and May and tiger experts believe that the predator had survived unaided for several months, after it had adjusted to life on three legs.

Last November a snare that had been pulled tight was found with part of a tiger’s severed leg, and it is thought that the victim is the same as the one in the photographs. The snare was made from bicycle brake wire.

The trap and the tiger were inside the Tesso Nilo national park in central Sumatra, an area where wildlife is supposed to be protected but which still attracts poachers.

Sunarto, who, like many Indonesians, goes by only the one name, added: “It’s particularly upsetting that this happened inside a national park, where tigers are supposed to enjoy protection.

“This tiger looks like he’s in good condition in our photos, but his future is uncertain. The Sumatran tiger population is at such low levels we can’t afford to lose even one individual to a snare.”

The Sumatran tiger, Panthera tigris sumatrae, is the most endangered tiger subspecies in the world, and only a few hundred are estimated to survive on the Indonesian island. As with any cat, the front paws, with their lethal array of claws, are part of the tiger’s killing armoury, and to lose one seriously weakens the animal’s attacking abilities. Doubts remain about the tiger’s long-term future, because of the presumed reduction in its hunting prowess.

There are also concerns that it will be unable to win a mate because it will struggle to fight off rival males.

Nevertheless, the three-legged male caught on camera in the jungle was well fed and its condition suggested that prey species were abundant in the region.

Sumatran tigers, which are found only on the island and are critically endangered, have declined because of illegal poaching and loss of habitat to loggers and farmers.

Hunters set snares for a range of animals for bushmeat, but some are set specifically for tigers, parts of which are used in traditional medicines. A tiger’s body can fetch £10,000. Whiskers are held to cure toothache, and the eyeball is said to have healing properties for epilepsy.

“The use of snares is not only threatening the remaining tiger population, it also leads to a bigger problem – human-tiger conflict,” Osmantri, of the WWF antipoaching team, said.

“When a tiger is sick or crippled, its ability to hunt and catch natural prey is reduced significantly. As a result, such tigers search for food in nearby villages, attacking livestock or even people.”

Of the nine subspecies of tiger surviving at the beginning of the 20th century, three have been driven into extinction, including the Javan and Bali tigers from the Indonesian islands.

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