ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

PANTHERA TIGRIS AMOYENSIS - O

1 - Distribution in China

The map below shows the distribution of tigers in China. Found it in an article of I. Ren et al. in Quarternary International 355 (2015), pp. 145-152. The map is from a recent study on the distribution of tigers in China.

Most red dots, as you can see, are in the southeastern part of China. The map also has dots in the northwest (Panthera tigris amoyensis or Panthera tigris virgata), the southwest (Panthera tigris tigris or Panthera tigris corbetti) and the south (Panthera tigris amoyensis or Panthera tigris corbetti).

Tigers were also present west and northeast of Beijing. There is a clear gap between Beijing (Panthera tigris amoyensis) and Manchuria and Russia (Panthera tigris altaica):

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The main reason for the gap between Beijing and Manchuria is the Chinese Wall:

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Using the gaps in the Chinese Wall north and northwest of Beijing, tigers in northern China might have reached the southern part of Mongolia every now and then, but it seems they never reached Manchuria. This means that there was no gene flow between Panthera tigris amoyensis and Panthera tigris altaica. 

I wonder how tigers reached the northwest of China, as large regions in central, western and northwestern China are very elevated:

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If the three maps are combined, it's clear that tigers, although they prefer flatter and more forested regions, are able to survive and breed in elevated and quite barren regions. If we add the information of Marco Polo on tigers just east of Tibet (13th century) and recent information on Bhutan tigers seen (and breeding) at altitudes exceeding 12 000 feet at times, questions pop up. I was in particular thinking about the assumption regarding tigers not being able to cross the Himalayas.  

 2 - table with information on the size of 3 tiger subspecies in China

The table below was posted at another forum (AVA) some years ago by a Chinese poster (KTKC). It has information on Panthera tigris altaica (purple, n=10), Panthera tigris amoyensis (green, n=3) and Panthera tigris corbetti (orange, n=1). Of the 14 tigers, 5 (no. 05, 09, 10, 12 and 13) could have been immature. I'm not sure about the Indochinese tigress, but I think she was immature as well. The reason is the very limited difference between the greatest skull length and the condylobasal length (21,00 mm. only).

As 5 of the Amur tigers seem immature, it's likely that they were captive. I'm not sure about the other Amur tigers. The 3 Chinese tigers, however, were wild adult male tigers. Tiger no. 01, if I remember correctly, was shot in the sixties of the last century in the northwest of China. The two others were shot in central and southern China. I have no information about the Indochinese tigress.

The first tiger, at 290 cm. in total length (most probably measured 'between pegs') and 190 kg., was as large as an average adult wild male Amur tiger. Two of the male Amur tigers have a longer skull, but his skull is the widest of all (262,50 mm.).

Betty. Would you be able to find the source of the table?    

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3 - A heavy Amoy tiger

Based on what I have, I'd say that Panthera tigris amoyensis showed quite a bit of regional variation. Tigers in the central part of China were a bit smaller than Indochinese tigers, but there are many reports about male tigers exceeding 400 pounds in the western part of Hunan. Tigers in Shaanxi Province, north of Hunan, also seemed quite large.

Tigers in northern and northwestern China could have been large animals, not smaller than a typical representative of Panthera tigris virgata. Marco Polo wrote that 'the striped lions' used for hunting in northern China (close to Beijing) were larger than those in Babylon. They were also used to hunt bears. Tigers in the eastern part of central China could have been somewat smaller.

In the southeastern part of China, they were longer but less robust. The information I have, however, suggests ther were plenty of exceptions. This report the New York Herald from May 25, 1889, was posted at another forum (AVA) some years ago.

The tiger shot in a cave was heavy and measured 270,51 cm. in a straight line (all tigers shot in southeastern China were measured 'between pegs' as a rule). Mr. Leyburn, who provided Mr. Inverarity with information about the size of Amoy tigers (see post 1,450), is mentioned more than once:   

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