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

[peter]

PRAGUE ZOO TIGERS

1 - Malayan male tiger 2014 (1th link of Amnon's post)

Face well marked. Stripes below the neck short and wide and narrower and a bit longer on the rest of the torso. Those on the lower back, hips and hindlegs are narrow, long, not as well pronounced and more numerous. Small mane in the neck, but not as pronounced as in the Sumatran male tiger. Ground colour bright orange.

Athletic in appearance, but not heavy. Relatively long. Back slightly arched. Legs muscular. Weight most probably between 300-350 pounds (136,08 - 158,76 kg.), maybe a bit more. Dentition heavy. Young adult.   

*This image is copyright of its original author

2 - Sumatran male tiger 2011 (4th link of Amnon's post)

Head well marked with deep black and quite wide stripes. Short, wide and quite black stripes on the neck. Shoulder nearly free of stripes. Double, very black and thin stripes on the top of the back directly behind the shoulders. More, often looped, stripes on the central and lower back and numerous very black and thin stripes on the hind leg. Ground colour orange, but paler than in most Sumatran tigers. Small mane all the way up to the chest. Hair quite long. Winter coat, I think.

General appearance, in contrast to most other subspecies, not long and athletic, but rather stocky. Compared to the dimensions of the body, the neck and skull almost seem photoshopped. In this department, the Sumatran is a bit overpowered. The tiger seems a bit older than the first and probably ranges between 270-320 pounds (122,47 - 145,15 kg.).

Although somewhat smaller than the Malayan tiger, the Sumatran could have as many or even more pounds per square cm. Skull and neck relatively larger. He reminds me of the Sumatran tiger Clyde Beatty had ('Chester').       
  

*This image is copyright of its original author

Notes

The photographs are not up to scale. Based on Amnon's description (who saw both), the Malayan tiger is a bit taller and longer, but not to the extent suggested. Also note the colour of the grass and the intensity of the sun in both photographs. My guess is the Malayan tiger was photographed in summer, whereas the Sumatran was in late winter or early spring. 

Amnon, I decided to print two of the links you posted in order to get to a kind of overview. Hope you don't mind. Does Prague still have Amur tigers? Maybe you are able to contact some of the staff about V. Mazak. Ask them if they would be willing to measure the standing height of the shoulder of all big cats. It won't take a lot of trouble. Reply