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

[peter]

PANTHERA TIGRIS AMOYENSIS - M

1 - Introduction

Last spring (May 2017), I finished a series on the Chinese tiger. The last post (1,186) was 'PANTHERA TIGRIS AMOYENSIS - L', meaning the continuation has to be 'PANTHERA TIGRIS AMOYENSIS - M'.

And a continuation it is, as I found quite a bit more. I'll start with the source of a scan posted in the last post in May. That scan had information about the size of tigers shot in the southeastern part of China in the last decades of the 19th century.

2 - The Encyclopaedia of Sport & Games (edited by the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire), Volume IV, London, 1911

When I posted the scan mentioned in the first paragraph (see above), I added it was posted a long time ago by a member of AVA. I printed the scan and asked him about the source. Most unfortunately, he left the forum just before I did. 

Some weeks ago, poster Greatearth said he had seen the scan before. He added he would send me a link to the book (many thanks, Greatearth). The book, as I suspected, was published a long time ago. It has different volumes. Most fortunately, all were digitalized.

I first read Volume II, edited by the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire Hedley Peek and F.G. Aflalo and published in 1898. The paragraph about the tiger was written by J.D. Inverarity. As the pages I printed were a bit below par, I decided for Volume IV which was published in 1911. The paragraph about the tiger in that volume is identical to the paragraph in Volume II which was published in 1898, but has more photographs.

The scans below are from Volume IV printed in 1911. I didn't post the complete paragraph, but the part about the Chinese tiger only (pp. 283-284). The photograph on page 283, by the way, is not from China, but India. Most of you have seen it before, I think.

The information about the size of Amoy tigers is interesting. Remember that Amoy tigers were measured 'between pegs' and not, as in most of India, 'over curves'. According to a Mr. R.P. Bruce, who had first-hand information, the longest he saw was 9.2 in total length. It must have been a very long-bodied tiger, as it only had a stump for a tail.

R.P. Bruce also explained why man-eaters were common in that part of China in the last decades of the 19th century: tigers were numerous, but there was no game. For this reason, they hunted near villages. Interesting read:      

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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