The Java Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)

[Rage2277]

(05-08-2019, 10:01 AM)phatio Wrote: here in Java Indonesia, every year there are many unofficial reports of Javan tigers sighting. i'll show you one example : 

“ I have seen Javan tigers on Mt. Pegat and forests around the mountain. I saw a tiger playing with her three cubs. Javan tigers are not extinct. They have stripes. There has also been sightings of tigers leaving sugarcane fields, usually in the afternoon,” Mt. Pegat juru kunci (mountain attendant) Suratno, 58, said on Sunday.

Sagimin, a resident of Bumiharjo village, claims to have seen a tiger near his house “The body was the size of a calf and it had stripes. During the dry season, tigers usually find water in the river near our kampung. I don’t believe the tigers are extinct. I’ve seen them four times,” Sagimin said.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/04/01/wonogiri-residents-claim-sightings-of-extinct-javan-tiger.html
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Recently Mr. Didik Raharyono told me that he finally got the picture of a wild javan tiger. yes a wild javan tiger alive!
For those who don't know who he is, Didik Raharyono is Javan tiger researcher. since 1997 he started to searching and investigating anything related to javan tiger, all by himself without financial support from any foundation. sometimes he gets what he expected, pugmarks, droppings, claws mark on trees etc. the other day he has to face the reality that his camera traps are gone. but ofc he won't give up. in the TV Show Animal Planet "Extinct or Alive" episode - The Javan Tiger, Forrest Galante, the guy who found the extinct Zanzibar Leopard visiting him for some information and advice. at the end of the show, Galante gives Didik camera trap as a gift.

if you havent seen it, you should check this episode, it's very interesting. There's a scene where Galante's drone equipped with Heat Vision Camera Sensors captured a large animal moving through jungle floor at night. Galantes also surprised how Java as world's most populous island still have healthy dense jungle which is more than capable to support the existence of large predator such as javan tiger and leopard.

back to javan tiger picture, as time goes by, Didik gained a reputation as the one you should call here in Java if you have any info about javan tiger more than the authority. like i said, every year there are many reports of javan tiger sightings. after checking some reports he had received, Didik often found some of them as false alarm, sometimes the evidence point toward to javan leopard, and only the rest "probably legit". unfortunately he haven't found any pictures or videos yet, except from two small pictures from 2014.

in September last year (2018), he received a report of javan tiger sighting with photograph in it. the witness/photographer said he took the photo in the teak forest after fail on multiple attempts before. December 2018 Mr.Didik finally had a chance to validate the accuracy of the report by interviewing the witness and visiting the location of the photo. it is true, he said to me.
and here is the photo

*This image is copyright of its original author

Judging from the photo Mr. Didik said this is probably an adult female, and interestingly according to witness there are other 4 specimen. how did he know? maybe he had seen all of them together? honestly i don't know. The exact location is still secret as it is outside national park or any other protected area. Didik and the team also had a plan to set camera traps to prove it furthermore. 

if this photo is true, then you're looking at the second photo of wild javan tiger alive since hoogerwerf's and the first one in coloured photograph.
What do you think guys, could it be real javan tiger or not?  as much i wanted this is real, i wanted to know the truth, so your honest opinion is highly appreciated.

looks like a malayan in a zoo enclosure... Reply