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Tiger
The Caspian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata)
The Caspian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata)
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The Caspian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata)
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As mentioned here, just as Siberian tigers were temporarily distinguished as Amur (Panthera tigris longipilis) and Korean tigers (Panthera tigris coreensis), Caspian tigers were temporarily distinguished, with one 'subspecies' being the Balkhash tiger (Panthera tigris trabata) of Central Asia (Lake Balkhash is in eastern Kazakhstan), but then these classifications were rejected by Heptner and Sludskiy (pages 130–137: https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov2...0/mode/2up), who asserted that the Soviet Union (a former federation that included countries like Russia, Kazakhstan and Georgia) had only 2 'forms' (which a later study would prove to be rather closely related: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl...ne.0004125), the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) and the Turanian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata, with 'Turan' meaning the land to the northeast of Iran (https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/e...*-COM_0206), that is Central Asia, which the Caspian tiger inhabited, so the "Turanian tiger" is the Caspian tiger):
Pages 130–137: *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author
3 maps depicting how far Northern tigers (collectively referring to the Caspian and Siberian tigers: https://books.google.com/books?id=4HpxDw...es&f=false) went from their regular habitats:
Vratislav Mazák, page 3: https://web.archive.org/web/201203091255...1-0001.pdf *This image is copyright of its original author Luo et al.: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl...ne.0004125 *This image is copyright of its original author Heptner and Sludskiy, page 130: https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov2...0/mode/2up *This image is copyright of its original author
Not that great, but for me, this skin from Iran is nevertheless valuable: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:...ndaran.jpg
 *This image is copyright of its original author
The caption of this image from Germany, which I posted here, reads:
"Zoologisches dokument von seltenem Wert: wohl das letzte Foto ein Turantigers. Es handelt sich um ein junges Weibchen, das vor etwa drei8ig Jahren in einen Tiergarten elangte. Bei genauer Betrachtung werden die Abweichungen vom Erscheinungsbild anderer Tigerformen deutlich. Den gedrungenen Mopskopf dieser Art hielt ein berühmter Zoologe zunächst für eine individuelle Mi8bildung. Zoological document of rare value: probably the last photo of a Turantiger. It is a young female who arrived in a zoo about thirty years ago. On closer examination, the deviations from the appearance of other tiger forms become apparent. The stocky mop's head of this kind was first conceived by a famous zoologist as an individual formation."  *This image is copyright of its original author
A mosaic from Palmyra in Syria named the "Tigers Mosaic". The inscription conceal an earlier one that read : (Mrn), which is a title used by Odaenathus. Michael Gawlikowski, who discovered the mosaic in 2003, suggests that it celebrate Odaenathus' victory over the Persians. The archer (who is wearing the traditional dress of Palmyrene aristocrasy) is Odaenathus while the tigers represent the Persians; Odaenathus is about to be crowned with victory by the eagle flying above him: https://www.worldcat.org/title/current-w.../237125718
 *This image is copyright of its original author
See this: https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-on-the-...5#pid92815
Eram Zoo in Tehran, where Iran kept Amur tigers brought from Russia in a bid to replace the Caspian tiger, was founded in the 19th century by the Qajari Shah Naser Ad-Din, using 3 tigers from Mazandaran, besides other animals, according to this Farsi website of Animal Rights Watch. 
I was unaware of this and it really interested me.
"Due to following migrating ungulates the caspian tiger was known as "road" or "travelling leopard" in Central Asia" https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=w...ucLOoZnylf 
Found this photo of what I think is a virgata in zoo antwerp.
Link to the photo: https://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/38-616-AK-TIGER-ZOO-ANTWERPEN/162822436461?hash=item25e8f9366d:g:mIgAAOSw-xVaQ18Y
I just remembered this small detail regarding caspian tigers along with anatolian leopard. From a turkish wildlife forum.
In 2002 I was in Sirnak Uludere Gülyazı region. I traveled a lot with the village guards, Peleng is a legend for them. They said they were still in the mountains of Zakho in northern Iraq. It's not on our side. I've heard of it in the 1950s in the mountains of tanin. In fact, the population of pigs and bezoar goats in the region is suitable for the lives of pars and tiger, as well as such beautiful mountains and deep valleys, I think they provide the most suitable conditions for the maintenance of wildlife. Of course, before the end of terrorism and mines cleared, it is unlikely that the region will be examined. Link. Turkish discussion on virgata And a stuffed tiger in turkey. The stuffed tiger at the entrance to Işıklar Military High School  *This image is copyright of its original author Link: Stuffed turkish tiger.
In Harvard Museum, there is what looks like an Arabic or Persian book with literature on the tiger and Asiatic lion: https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/216239
Unknown date of extinction
I read somewhere that when they initially thought that this tiger was extinct by the 1950's (when it apparently became extinct in Iran), they didn't know that there were tigers in Anatolia (Asian Turkey), and the last reported sighting there was by locals and a military officer in 2001, according to this! http://www1.nina.no/lcie_new/pdf/6350122...df#page=15 That isn't the only document with claims of Caspian tigers right into this century. World Wildlife Fund mentions the case of Sergei Mikhailichenko, who alleged seeing a tigress and cubs in the reeds' bushes near Lake Balkhash in eastern Kazakhstan in 2003! https://wwf.ru/upload/iblock/d6d/atacoll...df#page=15 Otherwise, the last known case of the Caspian tiger was of a tiger sighted in the southern part of the Babatag Mountains on the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan in 1998 (page 5; note that this is one of those URL's that don't show you information on the internet, but download files onto your computer or device): https://web.archive.org/web/201610220651..._study.pdf 
tiger_pre-feasibility_study.pdf (Size: 4.96 MB / Downloads: 1)
To make things more interesting, the Zanzibar leopard (Panthera pardus adersi or Panthera pardus pardus) was thought to be extinct by 2002, but then in the summer of 2018, a leopard was seen in the jungle of Unguja (the largest island of the Zanzibari archipelago)! https://www.academia.edu/694088/Updating..._specimens, https://www.insideedition.com/zanzibar-l...inct-43962
This photo is labeled mating games of the turanian tiger. But I am not sure on the validity .
 *This image is copyright of its original author Link: https://zveri.guru/zhivotnye/hischniki-otryada-koshachih/turanskiy-zakavkazskiy-ili-kaspiyskiy-tigr-ischeznovenie.html
Stuffed caspian at the Darwin museum in Moscow.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Source: https://www.biolib.cz/cz/image/id387952/ |
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