The Java Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)

[peter]

(04-03-2020, 12:50 PM)phatio Wrote: very rare footage of Andries Hoogerwerf javan rhino expedition in ujung kulon west java. this is the place where he took the famous wild javan tiger photo, the only one wild javan tiger photographed alive. @peter I think you might like this.

Ujung Kulon National Park today.
this is a very very great video, no music, no people talking, no made up naration just pure nature with it's magic. a glimpse of ancient jungle i would say. enjoy it

the head of wild rhino coming out from the jungle at 08:05 is something to see.
FYI most of the video took place near the beach or swamp area, so without proper research/survey we can only imagine what kind of animals living in thick rain forest jungle today.

PHATIO

Many thanks for posting this unique documentary! I had no idea Hoogerwerf had recorded wild Javan rhinos. 

A few decades ago, Dr. P. van Bree adviced me to contact Hoogerwerf. I did and learned he had died quite some time ago. Nobody knew. A great pity, as he could have showed me things one can only dream of. 

The former Dutch East Indies, also known as the 'Rijk of Insulinde' over here, always fascinated me. My father, a sailor, told me a lot about this faraway paradise. When young, I met quite a few people born and bred in Indonesia. They, in fact, lived in the same street. Some of them were Dutch, but others were from Java. I'm not referring to former KNIL-soldiers (from Ambon), but Javan families. Some of them really knew about tigers and had both skins and skulls.

There has to be a lot more about tigers in both The Netherlands and Indonesia. It's close and then it isn't. Although books about that period are still published quite often, old books are few and far between.  

I recently found a bookstore specialized on the former East Indies. I ordered everything they had on tigers, but the owner said he never heard about magazins. There are there, but it's hard to find. A few years ago, a museum (the 'Tropenmuseum') sold most of what they had on the former East Indies (and they had a lot). They had to in order to survive. A great pity. 

When I have time, I'll do a series on Bali, Java and Sumatran tigers. It will have new information I found in old books, including photographs and a few tables. Reply