The Malayan tiger is a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

from a specific

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

. This population inhabits the southern and central parts of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

, and has been classified as

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

. , the population was estimated at 80–120 mature individuals, with a continuing downward trend. In the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

, the tiger is called ''harimau'', also abbreviated to ''rimau''. It has also been known as the southern Indochinese tiger, to further distinguish it from the Indochinese tiger population to the north in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, which differ genetically from this population.

Taxonomy

''Felis tigris'' was the

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

used by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1758 for the tiger. ''Panthera tigris corbetti'' was proposed by Vratislav Mazák in 1968 for the tiger subspecies in Southeast Asia. ''Panthera tigris jacksoni'' was proposed in 2004 as a subspecies as a genetic analysis indicated differences in mtDNA and micro-satellite sequences to ''P. t. corbetti''. Since revision of felid

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

in 2017, the Malayan tiger is recognised as a ''P. t. tigris'' population. However, a genetic study published in 2018 supported six

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s based on whole-genome sequencing analysis of 32 specimens. The Malayan tiger appeared to be distinct from other mainland Asian tiger specimens, thus supporting the concept of six subspecies.

Naming

When the tiger population of the Malay Peninsula was accepted as a distinct subspecies in 2004, the chairman of the ''Malaysian Association of Zoos, Parks and Aquaria'' argued that the new subspecies should be named ''Panthera tigris malayensis'' to reflect the geographical region of its range. As a compromise, it received the vernacular name "Malayan tiger", and the scientific name ''jacksoni'', which honours the tiger conservationist Peter Jackson. Nevertheless, ''P. t. malayensis'' was used by other authors.

Characteristics

There is no clear difference between the Malayan and the Indochinese tigers, when specimens from the two regions are compared cranially or in pelage. No

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was designated. Malayan tigers appear to be smaller than

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...

s. From measurements of 11 males and 8 females, the average length of a male is , and of a female . Body length of 16 female tigers in the State of Terengganu ranged from and averaged . Their height ranged from , and their body weight from . Data from 21 males showed that total length ranged from , with an average of . Their height ranged from , and their body weight from .

Distribution and habitat

The geographic division between Malayan and Indochinese tigers is unclear as tiger populations in northern Malaysia are contiguous with those in southern

. Tigers abounded on Singapore Island in the 1830s when it was still a dense jungle and were also seen crossing the Strait of Johor. The first fatal attack of a tiger on a human was reported in 1831.

Tiger hunting The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

became a sport in those years. The expansion of plantations on Singapore Island led to more encounters between humans and tigers; daily tiger attacks were reported in the late 1840s. Local authorities organized tiger bounties, and the tiger population in Singapore decreased significantly. Tigers were extirpated on Singapore Island by the 1950s, and the last one was shot in 1932. In Malaysia, tiger signs were reported in early-succession vegetation fields between 1991 and 2003, agricultural areas outside forests in

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

, Terengganu,

Pahang {{Infobox political division , name = Pahang , official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur , native_name = , settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

, and

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

, and many riparian habitats outside forests in Pahang,

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Johor. Most of the major rivers that drain into the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

had some evidence of tigers, whereas those draining into the Strait of Malacca in the west did not. The total potential tiger habitat was , which comprised of confirmed tiger habitat, of expected tiger habitat and of possible tiger habitat. All the protected areas greater than in size had tigers. In September 2014, two conservation organisations announced that camera trap surveys in seven sites in three separate habitats from 2010 to 2013 had produced an estimate of the surviving population of 250–340 individuals, with a few additional isolated small pockets probable. The decline meant that the population might have to be moved to the "Critically Endangered" category in the IUCN Red List. As of 2019, poaching and depletion of prey has caused the tiger population in Belum-Temengor Forest Reserve to decline about 60% over a period of 7–8 years, from approximately 60 to 23.

Ecology and behaviour

Malayan tigers prey on sambar deer, barking deer, Indian hog deer, wild boar, Bornean bearded pig and mainland serow, as well as Asian black bear and

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a bear species in the Family (biology), family Ursidae found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'' and the smallest bear species, standing nearly ...

Threats

Habitat fragmentation because of development projects and agriculture is a serious threat. Between 1988 and 2012, an area of about natural forest was lost in Peninsular Malaysia. Nearly was converted to large-scale industrial plantations, primarily for palm oil production. An area of around constituted prime tiger habitat. Commercial

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

occurs at varying levels in all tiger range states. In Malaysia there is a substantial domestic market in recent years for tiger meat and manufactured tiger bone medicines. Between 2001 and 2012, body parts from at least 100 tigers were confiscated in Malaysia. In 2008, police found 19 frozen tiger cubs in a zoo. In 2012, skins and bones of 22 tigers were seized. The demand for tiger body parts used in Chinese traditional medicine apparently also attracts poachers from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Between 2014 and 2019, anti-poaching units removed around 1,400 snares from protected areas.

Conservation

The tiger is included on CITES Appendix I, banning international trade. All tiger range states and countries with consumer markets have banned domestic trade as well. The Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers ( MYCAT) is "an alliance of non-governmental organisations comprising the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), Traffic Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme and WWF-Malaysia." It also includes the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. In 2007, they implemented a hotline to report tiger-related crimes, such as poaching. In order to deter poaching, they organize "Cat Walks", a citizen patrol in danger zones. MYCAT has a goal of increasing the tiger population. In November 2021, the Cabinet of Malaysia announced the initiation of nine conservation strategies (through 2030) to ensure the survival of the Malayan tiger; the strategies include enforcement of patrols, preservation and conservation of the Malayan tiger's natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

; establishment of a National Task Force for its conservation under the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia's Tiger Conservation Unit; the wildlife crime bureau under the Royal Malaysia Police and the National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory were emboldened for its

ex situ conservation FILE:Entrance to the Seed Vault (cropped).jpg, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Svalbard Global Seed Bank, an ' conservation ''Ex situ'' conservation () is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety, or breed of plant or animal outside ...

, and provisions for a Malayan tiger habitat accreditation schemes enabled. The government also cooperates with zoos and

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in other countries to further research into

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely genetic distance, related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genet ...

, and establishes a Malayan Tiger conservation centre to temporarily accommodate tigers before releasing them into the wild. The moratorium ban on deer hunting was extended further.

Cultural references

The Malayan tiger is the national animal of Malaysia. In Emilio Salgari's cycle of novels on the 19th century fictional pirate

Sandokan Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century pirate created by Italian people, Italian author Emilio Salgari. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the hero of 11 adventure novels. Within the series, Sandokan is known ...

, the protagonist is known as "The Tiger of Malaysia".

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Mammals of Thailand Carnivorans of Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia National symbols of Malaysia Critically endangered fauna of Asia Mammals described in 2004 Mammals of Malaysia Malayan tiger