The Caspian tiger was a ''
Panthera tigris tigris'' population native to eastern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, northern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
,
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
around the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad s ...
,
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...
to northern
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...
, and the
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
region in western
China.
Until the Middle Ages, it was also present in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
and southern
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
.
It inhabited sparse forests and
riverine
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...
corridors in this region until the 1970s.
This population was regarded as a distinct subspecies and assessed as extinct in 2003.
Results of a
phylogeographic analysis evinces that the Caspian and
Siberian tiger populations shared a common continuous geographic distribution until the early 19th century.
Some Caspian tigers were intermediate in size between Siberian and
Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna.
The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
s.
It was also called
Balkhash tiger,
Hyrcania
Hyrcania () ( el, ''Hyrkania'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian ...
n tiger,
Turan
Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical ...
ian tiger,
[ and Mazandaran tiger ( fa, ).]
Taxonomy
''Felis virgata'' was a scientific name used by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger
Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (19 November 1775 – 10 May 1813) was a German entomologist and zoologist.
Illiger was the son of a merchant in Braunschweig. He studied under the entomologist Johann Hellwig, and later worked on the zoological colle ...
in 1815 for the greyish tiger in the area surrounding the Caspian Sea.
''Tigris septentrionalis'' was the scientific name proposed by Konstantin Satunin in 1904 for a skull and mounted skins of tigers that were killed in the Lankaran Lowland
The Lankaran Lowland ( az, Lənkəran ovalığı, tly, Lankoni çoləriyə, script=Latn) is a narrow strip of lowland in southern Azerbaijan by the Caspian Sea. It is the southward extension of the Kura-Aras Lowland which in itself is an extensio ...
in the 1860s.
''Felis tigris lecoqi'' and ''Felis tigris trabata'' were proposed by Ernst Schwarz in 1916 for tiger skins and skulls from Lop Nur
Lop Nur or Lop Nor (from a Mongolian name meaning "Lop Lake", where "Lop" is a toponym of unknown origin) is a former salt lake, now largely dried up, located in the eastern fringe of the Tarim Basin, between the Taklamakan and Kumtag desert ...
and Ili River
The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river si ...
areas, respectively.
In 1929, Reginald Innes Pocock
Reginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist.
Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edwar ...
subordinated the tiger to the genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
'' Panthera''. For several decades, the Caspian tiger was considered a distinct tiger subspecies.
In 1999, the validity
Validity or Valid may refer to:
Science/mathematics/statistics:
* Validity (logic), a property of a logical argument
* Scientific:
** Internal validity, the validity of causal inferences within scientific studies, usually based on experiments
...
of several tiger subspecies was questioned. Most putative subspecies described in the 19th and 20th centuries were distinguished on basis of fur length and colouration, striping patterns and body size, hence characteristics that vary widely within populations. Morphologically, tigers from different regions vary little, and gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalen ...
between populations in those regions is considered to have been possible during the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed ...
. Therefore, it was proposed to recognize only two tiger subspecies as valid, namely '' P. t. tigris'' in mainland Asia, and ''P. t. sondaica'' in the Greater Sunda Islands
The Greater Sunda Islands (Indonesian and Malay: ''Kepulauan Sunda Besar'') are four tropical islands situated within Indonesian Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean. The islands, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra, are internationally recognise ...
and possibly in Sundaland
Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...
.
At the start of the 21st century, genetic studies were carried out using 20 tiger bone and tissue samples from museum collections and sequencing
In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succi ...
at least one segment of five mitochondrial
A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...
genes. Results revealed a low amount of variability in the mitochondrial DNA in Caspian tigers; and that Caspian and Siberian tigers were remarkably similar, indicating that the Siberian tiger is the genetically closest living relative of the Caspian tiger. Phylogeographic analysis indicates that the common ancestor
Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. All living beings are in fact descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal comm ...
of Caspian and Siberian tigers colonized Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...
via the Gansu− Silk Road region from eastern China less than 10,000 years ago, and subsequently traversed eastward to establish the Siberian tiger population in the Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...
. The Caspian and Siberian tigers were likely a single contiguous population until the early 19th century, but became isolated from another due to fragmentation and loss of habitat during the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
.
In 2015, morphological, ecological and molecular traits of all putative tiger subspecies were analysed in a combined approach. Results support distinction of the two evolutionary groups continental and Sunda tigers. The authors proposed recognition of only two subspecies, namely ''P. t. tigris'' comprising the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese, South Chinese, Siberian and Caspian tiger populations, and ''P. t. sondaica'' comprising the Javan, Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
and Sumatran tiger
The Sumatran tiger is a population of '' Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers are extinct.
Sequences from complete mit ...
populations. Tigers in mainland Asia fall into two clades, namely a northern clade formed by the Caspian and Siberian tiger populations, and a southern clade formed by populations in remaining mainland Asia.
In 2017, the Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
and now recognizes the tiger populations in continental Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
as ''P. t. tigris''.[
However, a genetic study published in 2018 supported six ]monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...
clades, with the Amur and Caspian tigers being distinct from other mainland Asian populations, thus supporting the traditional concept of six living subspecies.
Characteristics
Fur
Photographs of skins of Caspian and Siberian tigers indicate that the main background colour of the Caspian tiger's fur varied and was generally brighter and more uniform than that of the Siberian tiger. The stripes were narrower, fuller and more closely set than those of tigers from Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym "Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East ( Outer ...
. The colour of its stripes was a mixture of brown or cinnamon shades. Pure black patterns were invariably found only on head, neck, the middle of the back and at the tip of the tail. Angular patterns at the base of the tail were less developed than those of Far Eastern populations. The contrast between the summer and winter coats was sharp, though not to the same extent as in Far Eastern populations. The winter coat was paler, with less distinct patterns. The summer coat had a similar density and hair length to that of the Bengal tiger, though its stripes were usually narrower, longer and closer set. It had the thickest fur amongst tigers, possibly due its occurrence in the temperate parts of Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
.[
]
Size
Male Caspian tigers had a body length of and weighed ; females measured in head-to-body and weighed . Maximum skull length in males was , while that of females was . Its occiput was broader than of the Bengal tiger.
It ranked among the largest extant cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
species, along with the Siberian tiger.
Some individuals attained exceptional sizes. In 1954, a tiger was killed near the Sumbar River The Sumbar (also Sari-su, Sara-su and Ṣáríṣú) is a fast flowing river in southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran. It a tributary of the Atrek. The name Sari-su means ''yellow water'' in Turkic languages, but is applied to a number of other ...
in Kopet-Dag, whose stuffed skin was put on display in a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...
in Ashgabat
Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشقآباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies ...
. Its head-to-body length was . Its skull had a condylobasal length of about , and zygomatic width of . Its skull length was , hence more than the known maximum of for this population, and slightly exceeding skull length of most Siberian tigers.
In Prishibinske, a tiger was killed in February 1899. Measurements after skinning revealed a body length of between the pegs, plus a long tail, giving it a total length of about . Measurements between the pegs of up to are known. It was said to have been "a tiger of immense proportions" and "no smaller than the common Tuzemna horse." It had rather long fur.
Skull size and shape of Caspian tigers significantly overlap with and are almost indistinguishable from other tiger specimens in mainland Asia.
Distribution and habitat
Historical records show that the distribution of the tiger in the region of the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad s ...
was not continuous but patchy, and associated with wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s such as river basins, lake edges and sea shores. In the Middle Ages, it inhabited the steppes and forest steppes of Ukraine and southern Russia. In the 19th century, tigers occurred in:
* the Eastern Anatolia Region
The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ.
It is bordered by the Black ...
, which is considered to have been the westernmost area where tigers occurred. Records are known from the region of Mount Ararat
Mount Ararat or , ''Ararat''; or is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and the ...
, Şanlıurfa
Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ext ...
, Şırnak
Şırnak ( ku, شرنەخ, Şirnex) is a town in southeastern Turkey. It is the capital of Şırnak Province, a new province that split from the Mardin and Siirt provinces. The Habur border gate with Iraq which is one of Turkey's main links to Ara ...
, Siirt and Hakkari Province Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to:
*Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq
*Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey
*Hakkâri Province, a province in southeast Turkey
*Hakkari (el ...
s in eastern Turkey; in the Hakkari Province tigers possibly occurred up to the 1990s. The only confirmed record in Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
dates to 1887 when a tiger was shot near Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
, which is considered to have been a migrant from southeastern Turkey.[ There are also claims of historical tiger presence in the area of the ]Tigris–Euphrates river system
The Tigris–Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia which discharges into the Persian Gulf. Its principal rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates along with smaller tributaries.
From their sources and upper courses in the m ...
in Iraq and Syria.
* the extreme southeast of the Caucasus, such as in hilly and lowland forests of the Talysh Mountains
Talysh Mountains ( tly, Tolışə Bandon, script=Latn, fa, کوههای تالش, Kuhhâye Tâleš; az, Talış dağları) is a mountain range in far southeastern Azerbaijan and far northwestern Iran within Ardabil Province and Gilan Provin ...
, in the Lenkoran Lowland
The Lankaran Lowland ( az, Lənkəran ovalığı, tly, Lankoni çoləriyə, script=Latn) is a narrow strip of lowland in southern Azerbaijan by the Caspian Sea. It is the southward extension of the Kura-Aras Lowland which in itself is an extension ...
s, in the lowland forests of Prishib
Prishib (russian: Пришиб) is the name of several rural localities in Russia.
;Modern localities
* Prishib, Astrakhan Oblast, a '' selo'' in Prishibinsky Selsoviet of Yenotayevsky District in Astrakhan Oblast;
* Prishib, Republic of Bashk ...
, from where tigers moved into the eastern plains of the Trans-Caucasus up to the Don River basin; the Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
and Zangezur Mountains
The Zangezur Mountains ( hy, Զանգեզուրի լեռներ or Սյունյաց լեռներ, az, Zəngəzur dağları) are a mountain range that defines the border between Armenia's southern provinces of Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Azerb ...
of northwestern Persia. In Iran, historical records are known only from along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and adjacent Alborz Mountains
The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs ...
.
* Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...
, such as in southwestern Turkmenia along the Atrek River and its tributaries, and the Sumbar and Chandyr Rivers; in the western and southwestern parts of Kopet-Dag; in the environs of Ashkabad in the northern foothills; in Afghanistan along the upper reaches of Hari-Rud at Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Saf ...
, and along the jungles in the lower reaches of the river; around Tedzhen
Tejen (older spellings: Tedzhen, Tejend, Tejent) is an oasis city with district status in the Karakum Desert, in Ahal Province of Turkmenistan. It lies along the M37 highway, between Dushak and Mary, by road southeast of Ashgabat. It has a pop ...
and Murgap and along the Kushka and Kashan rivers; in the Amu Darya
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...
basin as far the Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakh ...
and along the entire coast of the Aral Sea; along the Syr-Darya
The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
to the Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
as far as Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...
and the western spur of Talas Alatau; along the Chu
Chu or CHU may refer to:
Chinese history
* Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty
* Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu
* Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the Ha ...
and Ili River
The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river si ...
s; all along the southern shore of Lake Balkhash
Lake Balkhash ( kk, Балқаш көлі, ''Balqaş kóli'', ; russian: озеро Балхаш, ozero Balkhash) is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the ea ...
and northwards into the southern Altai Mountains, and to southeastern Transbaikal
Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia.
The steppe and ...
or Western Siberia in the east. In China, it occurred in the Tarim, Manasi River and Lop Nur
Lop Nur or Lop Nor (from a Mongolian name meaning "Lop Lake", where "Lop" is a toponym of unknown origin) is a former salt lake, now largely dried up, located in the eastern fringe of the Tarim Basin, between the Taklamakan and Kumtag desert ...
basins.
Its former distribution can be approximated by examining the distribution of ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraff ...
s in the region. Wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
was the numerically dominant ungulate in forested habitats, along watercourses, in reed bed
A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and
estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...
s and in thickets of the Caspian and Aral Seas. Where watercourses penetrated deep into desert areas, suitable wild pig and tiger habitat was often linear, only a few kilometers wide at most. Red and roe deer
The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...
occurred in forests around the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...
to the western side and around the southern side of the Caspian Sea in a narrow belt of forest cover. Roe deer occurred in forested areas south of Lake Balkash. Bactrian deer lived in the narrow belt of forest habitat on the southern border of the Aral Sea, and southward along the Syr-Darya and Amu Darya rivers.
Throughout the late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within ...
and Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
, the Caspian tiger population was likely connected to the Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna.
The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
population through corridors below elevations of in the Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Prov ...
, before gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalen ...
was interrupted by humans.
Local extinction
The demise of the Caspian tiger began with the Russian colonisation of Turkestan during the late 19th century.
Its extirpation was caused by several factors:
* Tigers were killed by large parties of sportsmen and military personnel who also hunted tiger prey species such as wild pigs. The wild pig range underwent a rapid decline between the middle of the 19th century and the 1930s due to overhunting, natural disasters, and diseases such as swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The virus causes ...
, which caused large and rapid die-offs.
* The extensive reed beds of tiger habitat were increasingly converted to cropland for planting cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...
and other crops that grew well in the rich silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel wh ...
along rivers.[
* The tiger was already ]vulnerable
Vulnerable may refer to:
General
* Vulnerability
* Vulnerability (computing)
* Vulnerable adult
* Vulnerable species
Music
Albums
* ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997
* ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003
* ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...
due to the restricted nature of its distribution, having been confined to watercourses within the large expanses of desert environment.
Until the early 20th century, the regular Russian army was used to clear predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...
s from forests, around settlements, and potential agricultural lands. Until World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, about 50 tigers were killed in the forests of Amu Darya and Piandj River
The Panj (russian: Пяндж; fa, رودخانه پنج) (; tg, Панҷ, پنج), traditionally known as the Ochus River and also known as ''Pyandzh'' (derived from its Russian name "Пяндж"), is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The rive ...
s each year. High incentives were paid for tiger skins up to 1929. Wild pigs and deer, the prey base of tigers, were decimated by deforestation and subsistence hunting by the increasing human population along the rivers, supported by growing agricultural developments. By 1910, cotton plants were estimated to occupy nearly one-fifth of Turkestan's arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...
, with about one half located in the Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
.
Last sightings
In Iraq, a tiger was killed near Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
in 1887.[
In ]Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
, the last known tiger was killed in 1922 near Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...
, after taking domestic livestock.
In China, tigers disappeared from the Tarim River basin in Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
in the 1920s. They reportedly disappeared from the Manasi River basin in the Tian Shan
The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...
Range west of Ürümqi
Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without Umlaut (diacritic), umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far Northwest China, northwest of the Peopl ...
in the 1960s.
In Turkey, a pair of tigers was allegedly killed in the area of Selçuk in 1943. Several tiger skins found in the early 1970s near Uludere indicated the presence of a tiger population in eastern Turkey. Questionnaire surveys conducted in this region revealed that one to eight tigers were killed each year until the mid-1980s, and that tigers likely had survived in the region until the early 1990s. Due to lack of interest, in addition to security and safety reasons, no further field surveys were carried out in the area.[
In ]Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
, the last known tiger was killed in 1932; however, there were alleged sightings in the Talysh Mountains
Talysh Mountains ( tly, Tolışə Bandon, script=Latn, fa, کوههای تالش, Kuhhâye Tâleš; az, Talış dağları) is a mountain range in far southeastern Azerbaijan and far northwestern Iran within Ardabil Province and Gilan Provin ...
in later years.
In Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
, one of the last known tigers was shot in Golestan National Park in 1953. Another individual was sighted in the Golestan area in 1958.[
In ]Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...
, the last known tiger was killed in January 1954 in the Sumbar River The Sumbar (also Sari-su, Sara-su and Ṣáríṣú) is a fast flowing river in southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran. It a tributary of the Atrek. The name Sari-su means ''yellow water'' in Turkic languages, but is applied to a number of other ...
valley in the Kopet-Dag Range
The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh ( tk, Köpetdag; fa, کپهداغ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast o ...
. The last record from the lower reaches of the Amu Darya river was an unconfirmed observation in 1968 near Nukus
Nukus ( kaa, Nókis / ; uz, Nukus / ; kk, Нүкіс / ) is the sixth-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. The population of Nukus as of January 1, 2022 was 329,100. The Amu Darya river passes ...
in the Aral Sea area. By the early 1970s, tigers disappeared from the river's lower reaches and the Pyzandh Valley in the Turkmen-Uzbek-Afghan border region.
The Piandj River
The Panj (russian: Пяндж; fa, رودخانه پنج) (; tg, Панҷ, پنج), traditionally known as the Ochus River and also known as ''Pyandzh'' (derived from its Russian name "Пяндж"), is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The rive ...
area between Afghanistan and Tajikistan was a stronghold of the Caspian tiger until the late 1960s. The latest sighting of a tiger in the Afghan-Tajik border area dates to 1998 in the Babatag Range The Babatag Range is a mountain range of Tajikistan. It lies in the west of Tajikistan, south of Hisor
, image_skyline = Hisor-Tajikistan1.jpg
, image_caption = Old castle in Hisar
, image_flag =
, image_seal =
, image_map =
, map_caption = ...
.[
In ]Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...
, the last Caspian tiger was recorded in 1948, in the environs of the Ili River
The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river si ...
, the last known stronghold in the region of Lake Balkhash
Lake Balkhash ( kk, Балқаш көлі, ''Balqaş kóli'', ; russian: озеро Балхаш, ozero Balkhash) is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the ea ...
. In May 2006, a Kazakh hunter claimed to have seen a female Caspian tiger with cubs near Lake Balkash. However, this sighting remains uncertain and unconfirmed.
Behaviour and ecology
No information is available for home ranges of Caspian tigers. In search for prey, they possibly prowled widely and followed migratory ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraff ...
s from one pasture to another.
Wild pig
A wild pig may be:
*Suina, a suborder of even-toed mammals, including:
**Suidae, a family of animals that are pigs or pig-like, including the Suinae and more distantly related extinct Old World tribes
***Suinae, a subfamily which includes the ''S ...
s and cervid
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the rei ...
s probably formed their main prey base. In many regions of Central Asia, Bactrian deer and roe deer
The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...
were important prey species, as well as Caspian red deer and goitered gazelle in Iran; Eurasian golden jackal
The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a Evolution of the wolf#Wolf-like canids, wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's co ...
s, jungle cat
The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat, swamp cat and jungle lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, litto ...
s, locust
Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumst ...
s, and other small mammals in the lower Amu Darya River area; saiga
The saiga antelope (, ''Saiga tatarica''), or saiga, is a critically endangered antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in ...
s, wild horse
The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Euro ...
s and Persian onagers in the Miankaleh Peninsula; Turkmenian kulan
The Turkmenian kulan (''Equus hemionus kulan''), also called Transcaspian wild ass, Turkmenistani onager or simply the ', is a subspecies of onager (Asiatic wild ass) native to Central Asia. It was declared Endangered in 2016.
The species's popu ...
s, Mongolian wild asses, and mountain sheep
The argali (''Ovis ammon''), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild sheep that roams the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains.
Description
The name 'argali' is the Mongolian word for wild sheep ...
in the Zhana-Darya and around the Aral Sea; and Manchurian wapiti and moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...
in the area of Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, I ...
. They caught fish in flooded areas and irrigation channels. In winter, they frequently attacked dogs and livestock straying away from herds. They preferred drinking water from rivers, and drank from lakes in seasons when water was less brackish.
Disease
Two tigers in southwestern Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
harbored 5–7 tapeworms (''Taenia bubesei
''Taenia'' is the type genus of the Taeniidae family of tapeworms (a type of helminth). It includes some important parasites of livestock. Members of the genus are responsible for taeniasis and cysticercosis in humans, which are types of ...
'') in their small
Small may refer to:
Science and technology
* SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language
* Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back
* ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication
* <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...
and large intestine
The large intestine, also known as the large bowel, is the last part of the gastrointestinal tract and of the digestive system in tetrapods. Water is absorbed here and the remaining waste material is stored in the rectum as feces before being r ...
s.
Conservation
In 1938, the first protected area Tigrovaya Balka
Бешаи Палангон (Beshai Palangon) Reserve is in Tajikistan close to the Afghan border where the Vakhsh River and the Panj River join to form the Amu Darya. The reserve stretches over 40 km from the southwest to the northeast.
De ...
(), was established in Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
. The name was given to this ''zapovednik
Zapovednik (russian: заповедник, plural , from the Russian , 'sacred, prohibited from disturbance, committed o protect committed o heritage; ) is an established term on the territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area whi ...
'' after a tiger had attacked two Russian Army officers riding horseback along dried-up river channel known in Russian as ''balka''. Tigrovaya Balka was apparently the last refuge of Caspian tigers in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, and is situated in the lower reaches of Vakhsh River between the Piandj and Kofarnihon Rivers near the border of Afghanistan. A tiger was seen there in 1958.
After 1947, tigers were legally protected in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
.[
In Iran, Caspian tigers had been protected since 1957, with heavy fines for shooting. In the early 1970s, biologists from the Department of Environment searched several years for Caspian tigers in the uninhabited areas of Caspian forests, but did not find any evidence of their presence.][
]
In captivity
A tiger from the Caucasus was housed at Berlin Zoo in the late 19th century. DNA from a tiger caught in northern Iran and housed at Moscow Zoo
The Moscow Zoo or Moskovsky Zoopark (russian: Московский зоопарк) is a zoo founded in 1864 by professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In ...
in the 20th century was used in the genetic test that established the Caspian tiger's close genetic relationship with the Siberian tiger.[
]
Reintroduction project
Stimulated by recent findings that the Siberian tiger is the closest relative of the Caspian tiger, discussions started as to whether the Siberian tiger could be appropriate for reintroduction
Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustainin ...
into a safe place in Central Asia, where the Caspian tiger once roamed. The Amu Darya delta was suggested as a potential site for such a project. A feasibility study was initiated to investigate if the area is suitable, and if such an initiative would receive support from relevant decision makers. A viable tiger population of about 100 animals would require at least of large tracts of contiguous habitat, with rich prey populations. Such habitat is not currently available, and cannot be provided in the short term. The proposed region is therefore unsuitable for the reintroduction, at least at the current stage.[
While the restoration of the Caspian tiger has stimulated discussions, the locations for the tiger have yet to become fully involved in the planning. But through preliminary ecological surveys it has been revealed that some small populated areas of Central Asia have preserved natural habitat suitable for tigers.
]
In culture
In the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...
, tigers and other large animals imported from Africa and Asia were used during gladiatorial games.
In the Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolia# ...
, stone traps were used to capture leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia ...
s and tigers.
In the Fables of Pilpay
The ''Panchatantra'' (IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO 15919, ISO: Pañcatantra, sa, पञ्चतन्त्र, "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian subcontinent, Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, ...
, the tiger is described as furious and avid to rule over wilderness.
The ''babr'' ( fa, , tiger) features in Persian and Central Asian culture. The name "Babr Mazandaran" is sometimes given to a prominent wrestler
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spo ...
.[ A Syrian mosaic in ]Palmyra
Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early seco ...
depicts the Sassanids
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
as tigers, possibly commemorating the victory of the Palmyrene King Odaenathus over Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ar ...
. The inscription on the mosaic conceals an earlier one that read: (Mrn), which is a title used by Odaenathus. It possibly celebrates Odaenathus' victory over the Persians, the archer representing Odaenathus and the tigers the Persians; Odaenathus is about to be crowned with victory by the eagle flying above him.
See also
* Tiger populations
** Mainland Asian populations
*** Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna.
The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
*** Indochinese tiger
*** Malayan tiger
*** Siberian tiger
*** South China tiger
The South China tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to southern China. The population mainly inhabited the Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. It has been listed as Critically Enda ...
** Sunda island populations
*** Bali tiger
*** Bornean tiger
The Bornean tiger or Borneo tiger is possibly an extinct tiger population that lived on the island of Borneo in prehistoric times.
A live Bornean tiger has not been conclusively recorded, but the indigenous Dayak people believe in its existence, ...
*** Javan tiger
*** Sumatran tiger
The Sumatran tiger is a population of '' Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers are extinct.
Sequences from complete mit ...
*
* Holocene extinction
The Holocene extinction, or Anthropocene extinction, is the ongoing extinction event during the Holocene epoch. The extinctions span numerous families of bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, f ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q188535
Caspian tiger
Extinct mammals of Asia
Mammals of Central Asia
Fauna of Western Asia
Fauna of Iran
Mammals of the Middle East
Mammal extinctions since 1500
1958 in the environment
Taxa named by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger
Mammals described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN