Powerful symbol among many cultures, regal in some
Common Name: Tiger (English)Harimau, Pak Belang or Datuk Harimau (Bahasa Melayu)
Scientific Name: Panthera tigris jacksoni (Malayan Tiger)
Habitat: Lowland dipterocarp forests
Status: IUCN: Critically Endangered
Population: Peninsular Malaysia approx. 490 adult individual
Background
The largest cat of all, the tiger (Panthera tigris) is a powerful symbol among the different cultures that share its home. Over the past 100 years, tiger numbers have dropped by 95% and three sub-species; the Bali (P. t. balica), Caspian (P. t. virgata), and Javan (P. t. sondaica) tigers have become extinct — with a fourth not seen in the wild for over 25 years.There are six remaining living sub-species:
- amur tiger
- bengal tiger
- indo-chinese tiger
- Malayan tiger
- south china tiger
- sumatran tiger
The Malayan tiger (P. t. jacksoni) is found throughout Peninsular Malaysia and named after Peter Jackson, the famous tiger conservationist. It was classified as the Indochinese tiger until DNA testing in December 2004 showed it to be a separate sub-species. Locally known as harimau, Pak Belang or Datuk Harimau, they number at least 490 - mainly in Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, and Pahang. The Malayan tiger is also found in peat swamps although they prefer lowland dipterocarp forests.
The tigers’ stripes are like finger prints; no two tigers have the same stripe pattern. With round pupils and yellow irises, the night vision of tigers is six times better than that of humans. Coupled with their short heavily muscled forelegs and long, sharp, retractable claws, this makes them good hunters. The mark of the Chinese character Wang (meaning king) sits on their forehead. Predominately solitary except for maternal bonding and during mating, tigers occupy territories that they defend against same sex intruders.
These carnivorous mammals instinctively avoid human beings and will only attack people if they are provoked, injured or unable to hunt for their usual food.
Colour
Tigers have reddish-orange to yellow-ochre coats with black stripes and a white belly.
Interesting Facts
There are probably more tigers on the shelves of pharmacies and medicine stores than in forests as tigers are widely hunted and every single part of their bodies is dissected for use in traditional Asian medicine. Tiger bones, believed to contain high medicinal properties, are popular on the black market in Asia.
Ecology, Habitat & Distribution
The largest cat of allTigers in Malaysia are found mainly found in Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, and Pahang. There are no tigers in the east Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. This magnificent creature is widely distributed throughout Peninsular Malaysia except for islands and certain small states such as Perlis, Penang, and Malacca.
Social Structure
Tigers are predominately solitary creatures except for maternal bonding and during mating. They occupy exclusive territories that they defend against intruders of the same sex by marking with urine and scrapes at boundaries.
Life cycle
After a gestation period of around 103 days, litters of around two or three tiger cubs are born to a tigress. For the next 6-8 weeks, cubs live only on their mother’s milk before she begins taking them to kill to feed.
Breeding
Mating season happens throughout the year, although it has been suggested that tiger reproduction, in Peninsular Malaysia, might have a seasonal peak around November to March.
Female tigers reach maturity when they are about 3 years old, a year ahead of males. When they finally leave their mother’s territory – anywhere from a year and a half to three years of age – females tend to stay closer to their mother’s range.
Diet
Tigers are carnivores and are specialised predators of large-hoofed mammals. In Malaysia, the main tiger-prey species are wild boar, Sambar deer, and medium-sized mammals such as Barking deer (muntjak).
Population and distribution
The Malayan tiger is found in peat swamps although they prefer lowland dipterocarp forests. A habitat generalist, there are estimated to be at least 490 individual adult tigers in the forests of Peninsular Malaysia. There are no tigers in Sabah and Sarawak.
Threats
Pressure from all sides
Hunting, Poaching, and Illegal Trade
For over 1,000 years, tigers have been hunted as status symbols, decorative items such as wall and floor coverings, as souvenirs and curios, and for use in traditional Asian medicines. Hunting for sport probably caused the greatest decline in tiger populations up until the 1930s. By the early 1990s, trade in tiger bone for traditional medicines threatened to drive tigers to extinction. Thanks to increased conservation, trade control and promotion of tiger bone substitutes, tiger-based medicines are now less accessible. Protected throughout their range, international trade in tiger parts and derivatives is today illegal. However, poaching persistently feeds continuing demand for various tiger body parts, with skins now appearing as the major form of trade.
Habitat and Prey Loss
Less than a hundred years ago, tigers prowled the forests of eastern Turkey and the Caspian region of Western Asia, across to the Indian subcontinent, China, and Indochina, south to Indonesia, and north to the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. But growing human populations, particularly since the 1940s, have both contracted and fragmented the tiger’s former range. Although extensive habitat is available, agriculture, logging and rapid development — especially road networks — are forcing tigers into small, scattered pockets. Tigers need large territories, so reduced habitat means that fewer tigers can survive in the wild. In addition, isolated populations are more prone to inbreeding, and small islands of habitat are more accessible to poachers than large tracts of natural forest. Along with habitat loss, tigers have suffered from severe loss of natural prey populations — in particular, wild deer, goats, sheep, and pigs — either due to direct hunting by people or through competition with domestic animals.
Conflict with Humans
As tigers continue to lose their habitat and prey species, they are increasingly coming into conflict with humans as they attack domestic animals — and sometimes people. The cost for farmers can be high: for example, livestock loss due to tigers is estimated to have cost over RM 1 million in the last decade in Terengganu. In retaliation, tigers are sometimes killed by angry villagers, captured and kept in zoos or killed by the authorities as the last resort.
Hunting, Poaching, and Illegal Trade
For over 1,000 years, tigers have been hunted as status symbols, decorative items such as wall and floor coverings, as souvenirs and curios, and for use in traditional Asian medicines. Hunting for sport probably caused the greatest decline in tiger populations up until the 1930s. By the early 1990s, trade in tiger bone for traditional medicines threatened to drive tigers to extinction. Thanks to increased conservation, trade control and promotion of tiger bone substitutes, tiger-based medicines are now less accessible. Protected throughout their range, international trade in tiger parts and derivatives is today illegal. However, poaching persistently feeds continuing demand for various tiger body parts, with skins now appearing as the major form of trade.
Habitat and Prey Loss
Less than a hundred years ago, tigers prowled the forests of eastern Turkey and the Caspian region of Western Asia, across to the Indian subcontinent, China, and Indochina, south to Indonesia, and north to the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. But growing human populations, particularly since the 1940s, have both contracted and fragmented the tiger’s former range. Although extensive habitat is available, agriculture, logging and rapid development — especially road networks — are forcing tigers into small, scattered pockets. Tigers need large territories, so reduced habitat means that fewer tigers can survive in the wild. In addition, isolated populations are more prone to inbreeding, and small islands of habitat are more accessible to poachers than large tracts of natural forest. Along with habitat loss, tigers have suffered from severe loss of natural prey populations — in particular, wild deer, goats, sheep, and pigs — either due to direct hunting by people or through competition with domestic animals.
Conflict with Humans
As tigers continue to lose their habitat and prey species, they are increasingly coming into conflict with humans as they attack domestic animals — and sometimes people. The cost for farmers can be high: for example, livestock loss due to tigers is estimated to have cost over RM 1 million in the last decade in Terengganu. In retaliation, tigers are sometimes killed by angry villagers, captured and kept in zoos or killed by the authorities as the last resort.
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