Tigers are the largest cats in the world and are known as the king of the beasts, a species unique to Asia. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were nine tiger subspecies in the world, namely Siberian tiger, Bengal tiger, Indochina tiger, South China tiger, Malay tiger, Sumatran tiger, Balinese tiger, Javan tiger, caspian tiger. Over the past two centuries, the fate of tigers has changed dramatically as populations have grown and natural resources have been plundered. Among them, the Caspian tiger, the Balinese tiger and the Javan tiger were all extinct in the 20th century, and now we can only learn about them through some black-and-white photos. So, how did these 3 tiger species become extinct?
1. Caspian Sea Tiger. The Caspian tiger, also known as the West Asian Tiger, was once widely distributed in the western part of the Caspian Sea, and the Caspian Tiger distributed in Xinjiang was once known as the Xinjiang Tiger. At the end of the 19th century, people in some countries in eastern Europe began to hunt the Caspian tiger relentlessly. According to statistics, in the last decade of the 19th century, at least 3,000 Caspian tigers were hunted. In the 1820s, the Caspian sea tiger distributed in China's Xinjiang region was already regionally extinct. By 1980, the Caspian tiger had disappeared from the earth forever.
2. Balinese Tiger. The Balinese tiger is the smallest tiger subspecies in the world, weighing less than 100 kilograms, comparable to a robust jaguar that once lived in Bali, Indonesia. With the invasion of Dutch colonists, Balinese tigers were hunted in large numbers. Later, this vice also affected the local Indonesians. After hunting Balinese tigers, locals will sell their tiger skins, bones and so on at high prices. In the face of human desire, the Balinese tiger is not an opponent at all. In 1937, the last Balinese tiger was hunted.
3. Javanese tiger. The Javanese tiger is a type of tiger that once lived in the jungles of the Indonesian island of Java, with an estimated 10,000 in number in the early 20th century. After Indonesia's independence in 1945, the population of Java soared, resulting in a large area of the Habitat of the Javan tiger occupied by humans. Coupled with the endless hunting of humans, their numbers are decreasing day by day. When humans think about protecting them, it is too late. The world's last Javanese tiger died at the Jakarta Zoo in 1983. It hasn't even been possible to breed Javanese tigers in captivity.
It can be found that the main reason for the extinction of these 3 species of tigers is due to human hunting, followed by the large number of occupations by humans, and of course, there are other reasons.
Tigers are one of the favorite animals of many people, they play an important ecological role in nature, I hope that human beings will take it as a warning, when talking about the remaining 6 species of tigers, do not forget these 3 extinct tigers, do not think of protection when the tigers have completely disappeared from the world... (Welcome to follow big cats and share feline knowledge every day.) Original work, unauthorized, plagiarism will be investigated)