Extinct Tiger Species

We know of nine tiger subspecies, three of which are now extinct. The other five are now all either critically endangered or just endangered. Tigers are the biggest of the big cats, but they are disappearing fast. Here are the three extinct species...

The Balinese tiger (above). This tiger existed on the Indonesian island of Bali. They were hunted to extiction, and it is believed that the last Bali tiger, an adult female, was killed in 1925 and the species was confirmed as extinct in 1937. They were never kept in captivity and they havn't been sighted since the last one was killed.

The Javan tiger (above). The Javan tiger existed on the island of Java and it is beleieved is strongly related to the Bali tiger. The Javan tiger was hunted to extinction in the 1980's, from the 1950's on there were only 25 Javan tigers left. There were unconfirmed sightings during the 1990's, the last confirmed sighting was in 1979.

The Caspian tiger (above) is also known as the persian tiger. This subspecies was very large with fairly long fur. it is believed that they went extinct in the 1950's but there have been a few unconfirmed sightings since. This subspecies existed in many countries: Turkey, the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq. These tigers were used in ancient times to battle gladiators in the colosseum.

For more information on tigers visit...
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/about_species/species_factsheets/tigers/index.cfm