Caspian tiger: Difference between revisions
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In search of prey, Caspian tigers were compelled to prowl widely and follow ungulates from one pasture to another. Wild pigs and [[cervid]]s formed their main prey base. In many regions of Middle Asia, [[Bactrian deer]] and [[roe deer]] were important prey species apart from wild pigs. Occasionally, they also preyed on Caucasian red deer, on [[goitered gazelle]] in Iran, on [[jackal]]s, [[jungle cat]]s, [[locust]]s and other small mammals in the lower Amu-Darya River area, on [[saiga]], [[wild horse]]s, [[Mongolian Wild Ass]] and [[mountain sheep]] in the Zhana-Darya and around the Aral Sea, and on [[Manchurian wapiti]] and [[moose]] in the [[Baikal]] area. They followed herds of [[migratory]] prey species like [[reindeer]], and caught fish in flooded areas and irrigation channels. In winter, they frequently attacked dogs and livestock straying away from herds. They preferred drinking water from rivers, and drank from lakes in seasons when water was less brackish.<ref name="Geptner1972" /> |
In search of prey, Caspian tigers were compelled to prowl widely and follow ungulates from one pasture to another. Wild pigs and [[cervid]]s formed their main prey base. In many regions of Middle Asia, [[Bactrian deer]] and [[roe deer]] were important prey species apart from wild pigs. Occasionally, they also preyed on Caucasian red deer, on [[goitered gazelle]] in Iran, on [[jackal]]s, [[jungle cat]]s, [[locust]]s and other small mammals in the lower Amu-Darya River area, on [[saiga]], [[wild horse]]s, [[Mongolian Wild Ass]] and [[mountain sheep]] in the Zhana-Darya and around the Aral Sea, and on [[Manchurian wapiti]] and [[moose]] in the [[Baikal]] area. They followed herds of [[migratory]] prey species like [[reindeer]], and caught fish in flooded areas and irrigation channels. In winter, they frequently attacked dogs and livestock straying away from herds. They preferred drinking water from rivers, and drank from lakes in seasons when water was less brackish.<ref name="Geptner1972" /> |
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== Extirpation == |
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== History and possible extinction == |
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[[File:Extantigerturanianwksciam97.jpg|thumb |
[[File:Extantigerturanianwksciam97.jpg|thumb|Illustration of two Caspian tigers]] |
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The demise of the Caspian tiger began with Russian colonization of Turkestan during the late 19th century.<ref name=Johnson1991>Johnson, P. (1991) ''The birth of the Modern World Society, 1815-1830.'' HarperCollins Publishers, New York. ISBN 006016574X</ref> Their extirpation was a process intensified by several circumstances: |
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| ⚫ | Until the 19th century, Caspian tigers still inhabited wide spaces of Western and Central Asia. In the mid-19th century, Caspian tigers were killed 180 km northeast of Atbasar, Kazakhstan and as far North as near [[Barnaul]], Russia.<ref name="Ognev">Ognev, S.I. (1935) ''Mammals of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent countries''. Volume 2: Carnivora (Fissipedia). Published for the National Science Foundation, Washington D.C. by the Israel Program, Jerusalem, 1962.</ref><ref name="Mazak1981" /> The only reported Caspian tiger from Iraq was killed near [[Mosul]] in 1887.<ref name="Kock">Kock, D. (1990) ''Historical record of a tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758), in Iraq''. Zoology in the Middle East (4): 11–15</ref |
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* they were ruthlessly persecuted by large parties of sportsmen and military personnel who hunted wild pigs and tigers with reckless abandon;<ref name="Geptner1972" /> |
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* the extensive reedbeds of tiger habitat were increasingly converted to cropland for plantations of [[Cotton plantation|cotton]] and other crops that grew well in the rich [[silt]] along rivers, which were used as highways for colonization of riverine habitat;<ref name=Johnson1991/> |
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* [[swine fever]], [[foot-and-mouth disease]] and calamities such as floods and fires caused large and rapid die-offs of wild pigs;<ref>Heptner, V. G., Nasimovich, A. A., Bannikov, A. G. (1989) Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume I: Ungulates. E.J. Brill, Leiden.</ref> |
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* tigers were already [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]] due to the restricted nature of their distribution having been confined to watercourses in large expanses of desert environment.<ref name=Sunquist1999 /> |
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| ⚫ | Until the 19th century, Caspian tigers still inhabited wide spaces of Western and Central Asia. In the mid-19th century, Caspian tigers were killed 180 km northeast of Atbasar, Kazakhstan and as far North as near [[Barnaul]], Russia.<ref name="Ognev">Ognev, S.I. (1935) ''Mammals of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent countries''. Volume 2: Carnivora (Fissipedia). Published for the National Science Foundation, Washington D.C. by the Israel Program, Jerusalem, 1962.</ref><ref name="Mazak1981" /> The only reported Caspian tiger from Iraq was killed near [[Mosul]] in 1887.<ref name="Kock">Kock, D. (1990) ''Historical record of a tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758), in Iraq''. Zoology in the Middle East (4): 11–15</ref> They disappeared from the [[Tarim River]] basin in Xinjiang in the 1920s.<ref name="Nowell">{{cite book |author= Nowell, K., Jackson, P. |year= 1996 |title= 'Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland. |url=http://www.catsg.org/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/tiger-13.htm}}</ref> The last record of the Caspian tiger on the [[Ili River]], their last stronghold in the region of [[Lake Balkhash]], Kazakhstan, dates to 1948.<ref name="Geptner1972" /> |
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The Russian government had worked heavily to eradicate the Caspian tiger during planning a huge land reclamation program in the beginning of the 20th century. They considered there was no room for the tiger in their plans and so instructed the Russian army to exterminate all tigers found around the area of the Caspian Sea, a project that was carried out very efficiently. Once the extermination of the Caspian tiger was almost complete, the farmers cleared forests and planted crops like rice and cotton. Due to intensive hunting and deforestation, the Caspian tiger retreated first from the lush lowlands to the forested ranges, then to the marshes around some of the larger rivers, and finally, deeper into the mountains, until it almost certainly became extinct. In 1938, national park [[Tigrovaya Balka]] was opened in [[Tajik SSR]] to save Riparian forests and rare animals, including Caspian Tiger, but it didn't help the population of tigers. It was the last stronghold of the Caspian tiger in the Soviet Union. Tigrovaya Balka national park is situated in [[Tajikistan]] in the undercurrent of [[Vakhsh River]] between the [[Panj River|Piandj]] and [[Kofarnihon River|Kafirnighan]] near the border of Afghanistan. The last Caspian Tiger was seen there in 1958.<ref>http://www.tigrovajabalka.tj/stati/4-zapovednik-tigrovaja-balka-v-tadzhikistane.html</ref> |
The Russian government had worked heavily to eradicate the Caspian tiger during planning a huge land reclamation program in the beginning of the 20th century. They considered there was no room for the tiger in their plans and so instructed the Russian army to exterminate all tigers found around the area of the Caspian Sea, a project that was carried out very efficiently. Once the extermination of the Caspian tiger was almost complete, the farmers cleared forests and planted crops like rice and cotton. Due to intensive hunting and deforestation, the Caspian tiger retreated first from the lush lowlands to the forested ranges, then to the marshes around some of the larger rivers, and finally, deeper into the mountains, until it almost certainly became extinct. In 1938, national park [[Tigrovaya Balka]] was opened in [[Tajik SSR]] to save Riparian forests and rare animals, including Caspian Tiger, but it didn't help the population of tigers. It was the last stronghold of the Caspian tiger in the Soviet Union. Tigrovaya Balka national park is situated in [[Tajikistan]] in the undercurrent of [[Vakhsh River]] between the [[Panj River|Piandj]] and [[Kofarnihon River|Kafirnighan]] near the border of Afghanistan. The last Caspian Tiger was seen there in 1958.<ref>http://www.tigrovajabalka.tj/stati/4-zapovednik-tigrovaja-balka-v-tadzhikistane.html</ref> |
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Revision as of 10:15, 16 September 2011
| Caspian tiger | |
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| Captive Caspian Tiger, Berlin Zoo , 1899
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| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | |
| Species: | Panthera tigris |
| Subspecies: | P. tigris virgata
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Trinomial name
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| Panthera tigris virgata Illiger, 1815
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| Original distribution (in red) | |
The Caspian tiger, also known as the Turan tiger and Hyrcanian tiger, was a
The Caspian tiger together with the
felid and ranked among the biggest felids that ever existed.[2]
The Caspian tiger was formerly found in Chinese and Russian Turkestan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey.[3]
Characteristics
Size
The body of Caspian tigers was generally less massive than of Siberian tigers, and their average size slightly less. In
Kopet-Dag had a skull length of 385 mm (15.2 in), which is considerably more than the known maximum for this population and slightly exceeds that of most Siberian tigers.[4]
Pelage
The main background colour of its
pelage varied, though generally, it was brighter and more uniform than that of Far Eastern tigers. The stripes were narrower, fuller and more closely set than those of the Siberian tiger. The colour of its stripes were a mixture of brown or cinnamon shades. Pure black patterns were invariably found only on the head, neck, the middle of the back and at the tip of the tail. Angular patterns at the base of the tail were less developed than those of the Far Eastern populations. The contrast between the summer and winter coats was sharp, though not to the same extent as in Far Eastern populations. The winter coat was paler, with less distinct patterns. The summer coat had a similar density and hair length to that of the Bengal tiger, though its stripes were usually narrower, longer and closer set.[4]
Phylogenetic relationship to Siberian tiger
At the turn of the century, researchers from the
Phylogeographic analysis suggested that less than 10,000 years ago the ancestor of Caspian and Amur tigers colonized Central Asia via the Silk Road from eastern China, then traversed Siberia eastward to establish the Amur tiger in the Russian Far East. The actions of industrial-age humans may have been the critical factor in the reciprocal isolation of Caspian and Amur tigers from what was likely a single contiguous population.[5]
Distribution and habitat
Historical records show that the distribution of Caspian tigers in and around the Caspian was not continuous but patchy, and associated with watercourses, river basins, and lake edges. In the 19th century, they occurred
- in the extreme southeast of the Trans-Caucasus; and in the Zangezurrange of northwestern Iran;
- in Balkash, and northwards into the southern Altai Mountains.[4]
Their former distribution can be approximated by examining the distribution of
Red and roe deer occurred in forests around the Black Sea to the western side and around the southern end of the Caspian in a narrow belt of forest cover. Roe deer occurred in forested areas south of Lake Balkash. Bactrian deer occurred in the narrow belt of forest habitat on the southern border of the Aral Sea, and southward along the Syr-Darya and Amu-Darya rivers.[4]
Ecology
In search of prey, Caspian tigers were compelled to prowl widely and follow ungulates from one pasture to another. Wild pigs and
Baikal area. They followed herds of migratory prey species like reindeer, and caught fish in flooded areas and irrigation channels. In winter, they frequently attacked dogs and livestock straying away from herds. They preferred drinking water from rivers, and drank from lakes in seasons when water was less brackish.[4]
Extirpation
The demise of the Caspian tiger began with Russian colonization of Turkestan during the late 19th century.[7] Their extirpation was a process intensified by several circumstances:
- they were ruthlessly persecuted by large parties of sportsmen and military personnel who hunted wild pigs and tigers with reckless abandon;[4]
- the extensive reedbeds of tiger habitat were increasingly converted to cropland for plantations of
- swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease and calamities such as floods and fires caused large and rapid die-offs of wild pigs;[8]
- tigers were already vulnerable due to the restricted nature of their distribution having been confined to watercourses in large expanses of desert environment.[6]
Until the 19th century, Caspian tigers still inhabited wide spaces of Western and Central Asia. In the mid-19th century, Caspian tigers were killed 180 km northeast of Atbasar, Kazakhstan and as far North as near
Ili River, their last stronghold in the region of Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan, dates to 1948.[4]
The Russian government had worked heavily to eradicate the Caspian tiger during planning a huge land reclamation program in the beginning of the 20th century. They considered there was no room for the tiger in their plans and so instructed the Russian army to exterminate all tigers found around the area of the Caspian Sea, a project that was carried out very efficiently. Once the extermination of the Caspian tiger was almost complete, the farmers cleared forests and planted crops like rice and cotton. Due to intensive hunting and deforestation, the Caspian tiger retreated first from the lush lowlands to the forested ranges, then to the marshes around some of the larger rivers, and finally, deeper into the mountains, until it almost certainly became extinct. In 1938, national park
Kafirnighan near the border of Afghanistan. The last Caspian Tiger was seen there in 1958.[12]
Some reports state that the last Caspian tiger was shot in
Golestan National Park (Iran) or in Northern Iran in 1959.[13] However, other reports claim that the last Chinese Caspian tigers disappeared from the Manasi River basin in the Tian Shan mountains, west of Ürümqi, China, in the 1960s.[11] The last record from the lower reaches of the Amu Darya river near Lake Aral was an unconfirmed observation near Nukus in 1968 while tigers disappeared from the river’s lower reaches and the Pyzandh Valley once a stronghold, in the Turkmen-Uzbek-Afghan border region by the early 1970s.[4][11] There are even claims of a documented killing of this subspecies at Uludere, Hakkari in Turkey during 1970.[14][15]
The most frequently quoted date is the late 1950s, but has almost no evidence to back it up. It appears this date came to be accepted after being quoted by H. Ziaie in "A Field Guide to the Mammals of Iran". Now, the most evidence reflects an even earlier date of extinction. The area of Iran that contained the last Caspian tigers was in fact the eastern region of Mazandaran, Northern Iran. According to E. Firouz in “A Guide to the Fauna of Iran, 1999”, the last tiger was killed in 1947 near Agh-Ghomish Village, 10 km East of Kalaleh, on the way to Minoodasht-Bojnoord. An exact date of extinction is unknown.
According to unanimous scientific opinion, the Caspian tiger, as a distinct population has been extinguished irreversibly. According to the confirmed official data and supported by the scientific researches.[4] During 1900-1968 there were 9 tigers killed in the mountains of Kopet Dag. According to scientists (Dement'yev and Rustamov) the last tiger was killed on 10 January 1954 at surrundings of Kone-Kosir in the valley of Sumbar River in Kopet Dag Mountains.[16]
Sightings and doubts about extinction
Possible Turkish last sighting
The following excerpts are taken from Can (2004):[15]
- "Earlier in the 20th century, the presence of the Caspian tiger had been known by Turkish (Turkish Republic Official Gazette, 1937). Yet, when the Caspian tiger was declared extinct in the world, international zoologists did not accept the idea that the Caspian tiger distribution range extended as far as eastern Turkey (Dr. George Schaller, Ankara, Turkey, personal communication, 2003). In fact, the species was officially a pest species until July 11, 2004 in Turkey. In the 1970s, surveys conducted by Paul Joslin in Iran turned up no signs of the Caspian tiger and the conclusion was made that the Caspian tiger had been extirpated. International cat experts only became aware of the presence of the Caspian tiger in Turkey after a tiger was killed in in 1970). Three years later, a botanist visiting the area saw and photographed the tiger pelt and published the story (Baytop, 1974)."
Turkish scientists, during a study on the field, reached some information on the presence of the Caspian tiger.
- "Within the framework of Southeastern Anatolia Biodiversity Research Project of WWF-Turkey, a survey was conducted to reveal the large mammal presence and distribution in the region (Can & Lise, 2004). Within the framework of the first attempt to collect systematically the large mammal data in Southeastern Turkey. First, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to 450 military posts in the region. The questionnaire included questions about the presence of large mammal species and each questionnaire was accompanied with Turkey's Mammal Poster of Turkish Society for the Conservation of Nature (which became WWF-Turkey later). The questionnaires were filled out by military personnel in cooperation with the local people and 428 questionnaires were returned to WWF-Turkey. The questionnaires also included questions related with the historical tiger presence in the region. Later, the questionnaire results were used to identify the areas on which the field survey will focus.
- The questionnaire revealed that some military personnel had heard rumors about the presence of large cats in the region. During the interviews with local people, the mammal team collected rumors about big cat sightings and met local people that claimed to hear roaring from different sites. In addition, it was reported that there was a local tiger pelt trade in the region and three to five tigers were killed in each year and the pelts were sold to rich land lords in Iraq until the mid-1980s. This confirms Turan's findings (1984), who obtained his information from local hunters in the region. Baytop (1974) similarly reported that 1-8 tigers were killed each year in the Şırnak region.
- Considering that one to eight tigers were killed each year in Eastern Turkey until the mid 1980s, the tiger that was killed in Uludere was a young individual according to the stripe patterns. The Caspian tiger is likely to have existed in the region at least until the early 1990s. Nevertheless, due to lack of interest in addition to security and safety reasons, trained biologists had not attempted to survey in Eastern Turkey before."
While these anecdotal sightings do not prove that the Caspian tiger survived, researchers believe they should investigate this possibility seriously. An investigation was planned for sometime in 2006.[citation needed] No such investigation has yet been made.
Reported sightings
There are still occasional claims of the Caspian tiger being sighted, with some occurring in Afghanistan, pug marks [tiger paw prints] have occasionally been reported, and others coming from the more remote forested areas of Turkmenistan. However, experts have been unable to find any solid evidence to substantiate these claims and the last reliable sighting was probably at least 30 years ago. It has also been suggested that the 'tiger' sightings may actually be
Persian Leopards
. Any hope of Caspian tigers in Afghanistan could be further dashed as war continues to rage across areas of the country.
Without photographic evidence, expert assessment of pug marks, attacks on animals or people, or a sighting by an expert authority, there is presently no good reason to believe that the Caspian Tiger still lives. Nonetheless, complete resolution of the matter will probably not be achieved until some time in the late first decade of the 21st century, given the need to investigate the Turkish reports.
Russia-Iran re-population project
reintroducing the cheetah in India the cheetah experts from the world over have already warned that no individuals from the critically low Asiatic cheetah population in Iran should be withdrawn at this stage for any reintroduction experiment elsewhere, like the one proposed by Russia in exchange for the more abundant Russian Tiger, as the limited gene pool of Asiatic cheetah in Iran will suffer a tremendous blow.[20]
See also
- Panthera tigris sudanensis
References
- ^ a b Template:IUCN
- ^ a b Mazák, V. (1981) Panthera tigris. Mammalian Species 152: 1–8.
- ^ Seidensticker, J., Christie, S. Jackson, P. (1999) “Preface. In Seidensticker, J., Christie, S. Jackson, P. (eds.) Riding the Tiger. Tiger Conservation in Human-dominated Landscapes. Cambridge University Press, UK. Pp. X–XIX
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Geptner, V.G., Sludskii, A. A., (1972) Mlekopitaiuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Vysšaia Škola, Moskva. (In Russian; English translation: Heptner, V.G.; Sludskii, A.A.; Bannikov, A.G.; (1992) Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part 2: Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats). Smithsonian Institute and the National Science Foundation, Washington DC). Pp. 95–202
- ^ a b Driscoll, C.A., Yamaguchi, N., Bar-Gal, G.K., Roca, A.L., Luo, S., Macdonald, D. W., O'Brien, S. J. 2009. Mitochondrial Phylogeography Illuminates the Origin of the Extinct Caspian Tiger and Its Relationship to the Amur Tiger. PLoS ONE 4 (1): e4125. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004125.
- ^ a b Sunquist, M., Karanth, K. U., Sunquist, F. (1999) Ecology, behaviour and resilience of the tiger and its conservation needs. In Seidensticker, J., Christie, S. Jackson, P. (eds.) Riding the Tiger. Tiger Conservation in Human-dominated Landscapes. Cambridge University Press, UK. Pp. 5–18.
- ^ a b Johnson, P. (1991) The birth of the Modern World Society, 1815-1830. HarperCollins Publishers, New York. ISBN 006016574X
- ^ Heptner, V. G., Nasimovich, A. A., Bannikov, A. G. (1989) Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume I: Ungulates. E.J. Brill, Leiden.
- ^ Ognev, S.I. (1935) Mammals of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent countries. Volume 2: Carnivora (Fissipedia). Published for the National Science Foundation, Washington D.C. by the Israel Program, Jerusalem, 1962.
- ^ Kock, D. (1990) Historical record of a tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758), in Iraq. Zoology in the Middle East (4): 11–15
- ^ a b c Nowell, K., Jackson, P. (1996). 'Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ http://www.tigrovajabalka.tj/stati/4-zapovednik-tigrovaja-balka-v-tadzhikistane.html
- ^ Vuosalo, E. (1976) Once there was a tiger. Wildlife Mar: 126–130
- ^ Üstay, A.H. (1990) Hunting in Turkey. BBA, Istanbul.
- ^ a b Can, O.E. (2004) Status, Conservation and Management of Large Carnivores in Turkey. Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France.
- ^ Ministry of Forest of Turkmenistan SSR. (1985) The Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (in 2 volumes). Published under State committee of USSR, Moscow.
- ^ Matt Walker (2 July 2009). "Amur tigers on 'genetic brink'". BBC News.
- PMID 19555412.)
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Iran, Russia Hope to Revive Extinct Big Cats Asiatiac Cheetah and Caspian Tiger; Source: Press TV; 09 january 2010; Payvand Iran News
- Iran Daily
External links
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