Comments thread for "The Bornean Tiger: Fact or Fiction?"

[BorneanTiger]

The Bornean tiger

Though I did post this before (https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-on-the-...s?page=114, https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-on-the-...s?page=147), I am not the only one to point out this mystery of whether or not the Bornean tiger (which is known to have existed in prehistoric times like others tigers, such as the Palawan tiger from what is now the Philippines: https://books.google.com/books?id=XFIbjB...er&f=false, https://books.google.com/books?id=66mRJS...sc=y&hl=en) survived into modern or recent times, with someone else having given photos or information about it. I also want this thread to be about other prehistoric or ancient tigers in places where we wouldn't see them today, such as Palawan, Japan, and what used to be the Beringian landmass that connected what is now the Russian Far East with what is now Alaska in North America, and I'm not sure about Sri Lanka.

As for the mysterious Bornean tiger or Borneo tiger, to start with, 3 subspecies of tigers were traditionally were recognised for the Sunda Islands of Southeast Asia (https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-on-the-...s?page=140), the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatræ), the Balinese tiger (Panthera tigris balica), and the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica). Of these, only the Sumatran tiger is known to survive (https://web.archive.org/web/201203091255...1-0001.pdf). However, according to people in the Sunda island Borneo, there was another tiger that at least used to inhabit their island as recently as the 20th century (https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/was-bo...of-tigers/, https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bi...-51-69.pdf, https://books.google.com/books?id=XFIbjB...er&f=false).

Firstly, here's a look at Borneo. Borneo is rather close to Java and Sumatra, credit: http://mjhuize.blogspot.com/2014/04/expe...sland.html 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Borneo has a tropical climate similar to those of other Sunda islands, and has almost the same fauna as Sumatra (https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/was-bo...of-tigers/). Amongst the fauna found here are potential prey of the tiger, such as the bearded pig and muntjac deer (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eri...stence.pdf): 

Bornean yellow muntjac, credit: http://satwakalimantan.blogspot.com/2015...tjacs.html 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Bornean jungle, credit: https://exclusives.webjet.com.au/deals/t...h-flights/ 

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Bornean tiger was said to be small like its Sumatran relative (Page 35: https://books.google.com/books?redir_esc...er&f=false), and mostly brown with faint stripes (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eri...stence.pdf). For comparison, a male Sumatran tiger in the jungle of Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, credit: https://www.newscientist.com/article/sum...rongholds/ 

*This image is copyright of its original author

People in Borneo have alleged that the tiger existed in their island not very long ago. When Taufik Wijaya of Mongabay paid a visit to Iber Djamal, a leader of the Dayak Ngaju, an indigenous Bornean folk, particularly in the Indonesian part of Borneo, which is called "Kalimantan" (meaning "Borneo"), he noticed a local kind of machete called the "Mandau", which had fangs on it. According to Djamal, these fangs were from a tiger that was killed by his ancestor, not a leopard or clouded leopard. Photo of Djamal with his Mandau, with the fangs at the bottom, next to his hand, by Jemmie Delvian: https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/was-bo...of-tigers/ 

*This image is copyright of its original author

It is not just Bornean natives who alleged that there were tigers were in Borneo. Amongst the foreigners who talked about the tiger in Borneo was Douchan Gersi, who claimed to have seen one in South Belayan, East Kalimantan, in 1975, and published 2 photographs to support his statement, apparently including one in Page 87 of this book: https://books.google.com/books?id=wUPvHA...edir_esc=y

Douchan Gersi the predecessor of the likes of Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin: https://bali-gazette.com/le-plus-grand-k...han-gersi/ 

*This image is copyright of its original author

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