The South-Chinese Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)

[peter]

Post information on this subspecies here.
 

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[GuateGojira]

The Original group:

All the experts, through genetic and morphological studies agree that the South China tiger (and those of the northern Indochina region, probably conspecific) are the original tiger population, and from where all the modern tiger populations in the mainland have evolved. These tigers are direct descendants of the Pleistocene Wanhsien tiger (Panthera tigris acutidens) and still have some of its characteristics.

Just to give a delight to our eyes, here are some images of the South China tigers that live in South Africa, thanks to "Save China’s Tigers".

They seem to be very well there, and with a population of 12, it seems that the project is a success. It seems that most of them meals came from hunting, although there is one picture of a tigress with a prey tied to a tree.

http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2958-2/IMG_6978_Hulooo+at+top+speed.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2956-2/IMG_6938_A+meal+fit+for+a+king_Madonna+and+family.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2950-2/IMG_6777_Madonna+fights+a+losing+battle.jpg
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2464-2/IMG_9785_Life+is+a+laugh+a+minute_King+Henry.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2460-2/IMG_9779_JenB+practices+his+spraying.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2406-3/Hulooo+has+a+good+stretch.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2250-3/week37002.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/2230-2/IMG_9941_Who+is+that+handsome+fellow.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/1718-2/IMG_4017_JenB+pursue+Blesbok_1.jpg
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/1527-2/IMG_9559_Say+AAAAA.jpg
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/1209-2/Week+244+Cathay+scent+marking.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/1213-2/Week+244+Tigerwoods+pacing+.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/1149-2/Week+241+327+dragging+the+blesbok+carcass+IMG_4991.JPG
http:/english.savechinastigers.org/gallery2/d/829-2/_MG_0190+Madonna+pulling+wildebeest+carcass_001.JPG

Source: http:/english.savechinastigers.org/v/Tigers+in+action/

These are just a few of many pictures in the Save China’s Tigers web page.

Here is some data:
“The South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), is also known as the Chinese, Amoy, or Xiamen tiger. It is one of the world's 10 most endangered animals and the most endangered of the six surviving tiger subspecies. There are few if any in the wild (between 10 to 30), and around 100 in captivity at present. The Chinese Tiger originated in China two million years ago and is commonly believed to be the ancestral root tiger from which all other subspecies of tiger (Bengal, Siberian etc) are derived.

The South China tiger is believed to have a more archaic skull, whose ratio of the length and width is relatively larger than other tiger subspecies. Its body is slim with a slender waist. It is distinguishable from other tiger subspecies by its narrower face, longer nose, more intense orange color, short fur, longer legs, and shorter & broader stripes which are spaced far apart compared with those of Bengal and Siberian tigers. Based on the researches of felidae zoologist V. Mazák, the South China tigers have the least number of stripes of all subspecies. The diamond-shaped patterns of the stripes can often be found on the sides of the South China Tiger and it is the next smallest tiger after the Sumatran tiger.

A male Chinese tiger measures from 230 to 265 cm (91 to 104 in) straight-line, and weigh 130 to 175 kg (290 to 390 lb). Females are smaller and measure 220 to 240 cm (87 to 94 in) and weigh 110 to 115 kg (240 to 250 lb). Greatest length of skull in males is 318 to 343 mm (12.5 to 13.5 in), and in females 273 to 301 mm (10.7 to 11.9 in).

In 1950's the South China tiger along with other predators such as leopards and wolves was declared to be pests and "enemies of the people", because they attacked the livestock of farmers and villagers. Becoming widely persecuted, the wild population of the South China Tiger fell from more than 4,000 to less than 200 by 1982. The Chinese government then reversed the classification of the tiger, banning hunting altogether in 1977, but this seems to have been too late. In 2000, Save China's Tiger charity was founded in London to work with China in an effort to bring the South China tiger back from the brink of extinction.”

Source: http:/english.savechinastigers.org/node/31 Reply

[GuateGojira]

On the skull of the South China tiger:

I found this quote interesting: 
“The South China tiger is believed to have a more archaic skull, whose ratio of the length and width is relatively larger than other tiger subspecies. Its body is slim with a slender waist. It is distinguishable from other tiger subspecies by its narrower face, longer nose, more intense orange color, short fur, longer legs, and shorter & broader stripes which are spaced far apart compared with those of Bengal and Siberian tigers.”
 
Source: http//english.savechinastigers.org/node/31
 
Obviously, I searched in my database and this is what I found:
 
Subspecies               Ratio GSL-ZW               Sample
P. t. amoyensis         1.47                            6
P. t. corbetti                1.46                            3
P. t. sondaica              1.43                            13
P. t. altaica                 1.44                            13
P. t. tigris                    1.41                            18
 
Incredibly as it is, it seems that this is correct, as the largest ratio came from the South China tigers (1.47). This means that the South China tigers had a narrow skulls in comparison with the other “modern” subspecies. The second narrower group is that of Indochinese tigers, but with such a small sample (3) it is too early to achieve any final conclusion.
 
It seems that the first tigers had narrow skulls, a trait that probably presented also the Wanhsien tiger and is now show in P. t. amoyensis. The second tiger group in evolve is that of Indochina, with also narrow skulls. The later mainland groups have much wider skulls with P. t. tigris presenting the smallest ratio.
 
Sunda tigers seems that had changed very much trough they evolution. The Ngandong tiger had a ratio of 1.62, very narrow for any modern tiger, but latter Javanese forms seems to had increased they skull wide and carnassials’ size, but also developed smaller sagital crest and narrow occipital areas. It is obvious that Sunda tigers had different masticator systems in comparison with mainland populations. Reply

[Dr Panthera]

Tigers are strongly linked to India, the country is home to 40%-50% of all wild tigers, some of its national parks are among the best places to see and study wild tigers, and tigers in northern India and neighboring places in Nepal and Bhutan are some of the largest and most formidable cats, yet there is another country that played a more important role in the history of tigers and their evolution:China.
Tigers originated in China and from there they followed populations of large deer and wild boar north to the Amur region, west to the Caspian region, south to south east Asia and south west to the Indian subcontinent.
Up to the 1950's China was home to :

Amur tigers in Jilin province and the areas bordering Russia and North Korea ( a few 25-30 still exist)

Caspian tigers ( or West Amur if you like) in western China ( Gone by 1960)

Indochinese tigers in the Yunnan and the southern provinces bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar ( extinct by 2009)

Bengal tigers in southern Tibet  ( 20-30 still exist)

South China Tiger : The original or stem subspecies numbered as high as 4000 in 1949 but state policies of the Mao government treated it as a vermin and that lead to wide eradication.
China can stop the illegal trade in tiger parts and reduce the demand of poached tigers, it also provides hope of preserving and growing its Amur and Bengal tiger populations and restoring its Indochinese and South Chinese tiger populations, definitely challenging but hopefully possible. Reply

[sanjay]

Great Thread
I always like to have information on China and Tiger relation. Hope to see more information on this thread Reply

[GrizzlyClaws]

A fossilized lion canine tooth was found in the northeastern part of China.

I can imagine that place was like a frozen India back to the 10,000 BC.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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[Dr Panthera]

If Chinese biologists and politicians can convince the people in China who erroneously believe that tiger body parts have medicinal value, the poaching of tigers could be virtually stopped, there are large tracts of forest in China away from the industrial east and south where tigers can make a comeback with four different ecotypes able of maaking a comeback. Reply

[Sully]

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