Caspian Tiger

		Caspian Tiger
		He is a wild animal


Origin			Southwest Asia
Translation			Francis Vandersteen

The possession of this animal is not authorized Royal Decree establishing the list of mammals not kept for production purposes that may be kept (M.B. 24.08.2009)

The Caspian Tiger was the westernmost tiger subspecies. It was found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan until its extinction in 1972.

Recent genetic research has shown that the Caspian tiger actually belongs to the same subspecies as the Siberian tiger, which is morphologically very close and still exists, opening up the possibility of reintroducing Siberian tigers into Central Asia.

The Caspian Tiger was the third largest of all known tigers. The animal's body was quite massive and elongated, with strong limbs, large, wide paws and unusually large claws. The ears were small and short, and seemed to be devoid of hair at the tips. The male measured 270 to 290 cm, and the female 240 to 260 cm. Weights ranged from 180 to 220 kg for the male, and 85 to 135 kg for the female.

The animal had long, thick fur, abundant around the cheeks. Its color resembled that of the Bengal tiger. The skin of one specimen, preserved in the British Museum, is golden yellow on the back and flanks, with the sides lighter than the back and stripes ranging from light to dark brown. The chest and abdomen are white with yellow stripes, while the face is yellow with brown stripes on the forehead and white spots around the eyes and cheeks. The outer part of the limbs is yellow, while the inner part is white. The tail of this subspecies is yellow, with yellowish-white stripes. In winter, the coat was very long. This tiger had a large ventral mane, as well as a short mane on the nape of the neck.

Caspian tigers spent most of their lives alone. They rarely spawned with other tigers outside the breeding season, usually in winter or spring. The male tiger was larger than the female and lived from ten to fifteen years.

The Caspian tiger was originally widespread in southwest Asia. It came from Mongolia and southern Russia via western China (Xinjiang), the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Persia and Mesopotamia. In the Middle Ages, it may even have reached Ukraine. In modern times, it was found in the southern Caucasus, eastern Turkey, northern Iran and northern Afghanistan.

The intensification of cultivation, leading to the reduction of its natural habitat and the scarcity of its prey, combined with the intensive hunting to which the subspecies fell victim, to cause its gradual disappearance and eventual extinction. The last sighting was in 1972.