South China Tiger | |
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Information | |
Range | Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi in southern China |
Scientific Classification | |
Kingdom | Animalia |
Phylum | Chordata |
Class | Mammalia |
Order | Carnivora |
Family | Felidae |
Genus | Panthera |
Species | Panthera tigris Panthera tigris amoyensis |
Conservation Status | |
Critically Endangered Possibly Extinct in the Wild |
The South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is a tiger subspecies that was native to the provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi in southern China, and has been classified as critically endangered by IUCN since 1996 as it is possibly extinct in the wild. There is a small chance that some individuals are still extant. But already in the late 1990s, continued survival was considered unlikely due to low prey density, widespread habitat degradation and fragmentation, and other human pressures. No official or biologist has seen a wild South China tiger since the early 1970s, when the last verified record is of an individual brought into captivity.
Since the 1980s, the South China tiger is considered a relict population of the "stem" tiger, living close to the possible area of origin. Morphologically, it is the most distinctive of all tiger subspecies.
The name Amoy tiger was used in the fur trade. It is also known as the South Chinese, the Chinese, and the Xiamen tiger.
Characteristics[]
The carnassials and molars of the South China Tiger were shorter than in Bengal Tiger.
The South China Tiger is the smallest tiger subspecies (excluding the Sumatran Tiger) With Males being anywhere 7 to 8.5 feet and Females being 6.5 - 8.2 feet and their weights being anywhere from 308 lbs to 374 lbs for the males and 264 lbs for the Females.