Malayan Tiger
| Malayan tiger | |
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| A Malayan tiger at the Cincinnati Zoo. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | P. tigris |
| Subspecies: | P. t. jacksoni |
| Trinomial name | |
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Panthera tigris jacksoni Luo et al., 2004 |
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| Range map | |
The Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) is a tiger subspecies that inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula and has been classified as Critically Endangered by IUCN in 2015 as the population was roughly estimated at 250 to 340 adult individuals in 2013; this population likely comprises less than 250 mature breeding individuals, with a declining trend.
When in 1968 Panthera tigris corbetti was newly designated, the tigers inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula were included into this subspecies. In 2004, Panthera tigris jacksoni was recognised as a new subspecies when a genetic analysis found that they are distinct in and micro-satellite sequences from Panthera tigris corbetti.
In Malay language the tiger is called harimau, also abbreviated to rimau.
There is no clear difference between the Malayan and the Indochinese tiger when specimens from the two regions are compared cranially or in pelage. No type specimen was designated.
Malayan tigers appear to be smaller than Indian ones. From measurements of 11 males and 8 females, the average length of a male is 8 ft 6 in (259 cm), and of a female 7 ft 10 in (239 cm).
Body length taken from 16 female tigers in the State of Terengganu ranged from 70 to 103 in (180 to 260 cm) and averaged 80.1 in (203 cm). Their height ranged from 23 to 41 in (58 to 104 cm), and their body weight from 52 to 195 lb (24 to 88 kg). Data from 21 males in the State of Terengganu showed that total length ranged from 75 to 112 in (190 to 280 cm), with an average of 94.2 in (239 cm). Their height ranged from 24 to 45 in (61 to 114 cm), and their body weight from 104 to 284.7 lb (47.2 to 129.1 kg).
The geographic division between Malayan and Indochinese tigers is unclear as tiger populations in northern Malaysia are contiguous with those in southern Thailand. In Singapore tigers were extirpated in the 1950s, and the last one shot in 1932.
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Wikipedia