Bali Tiger by Moondawg

Bali Tiger by Moondawg 2009

The Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica), harimau Bali in Indonesian, or referred to as samong in archaic Balinese language, is an extinct subspecies of tiger found solely on the small Indonesian island of Bali. This was one of three sub-species of tiger found in Indonesia along with the Javan tiger (also extinct) and Sumatran tiger (critically endangered).

It was the smallest of the tiger sub-species; the sub-species was declared extinct on September 27, 1937 after a tigress was shot at Sumbar Kima, west Bali. Given the small size of the island, and limited forest cover, the original population could never have been large, and it is considered unlikely that any survive today.

The subspecies became extinct due to habitat loss and hunting.

Weight

This subspecies was the lesser sized of all tigers, rather comparable with the African leopard or North American cougar in size.

The weight of a male tiger was usually 90-100 kg (198-221 pounds).

Females weighed in at 65-80 kg (142-175 pounds).

Length

A male Bali tiger's length was around 7'-4" to 7'-7".

A female's length was around 6'-3" to 6'-5".

Appearance

Bali tigers had short fur that was deep orange colored and darker, fewer stripes than other tiger sub-species. Occasionally, between the stripes, there were small black spots. Bali tigers also had unusual bar-shaped patterns on the head.

Life

Balinese tigers lived up to approximately 8-10 years of age.

Prey/Predators

The only known predators of Bali tigers were humans. Like all tigers, the Bali tigers were carnivorous. The Bali tigers preyed upon most mammals that lived within their habitat.

Cubs

Female Bali tigers, after mating, had a gestation period of 103 days on average. They begat two or three cubs each mating, and the cubs weighed two or three pounds at birth. They were born blind. Cubs became weaned at around one year of age, and were fully independent at 18 months to two years of age. Sometimes the cubs stayed with their mother for another year.

Documentation, hunting and tiger culture in Bali

In Balinese culture, the tiger had a special place in folk tales and traditional arts, like the Kamasan paintings of Klungkung kingdom. However, they were perceived as a destructive force and depredation efforts were encouraged all the way to the time of extinction. Very few reliable accounts of encounters and even less visual documentations remain. One the most complete recordings was made by the Hungarian baron Oszkár Vojnich, who trapped, hunted and even took photos of a Balinese tiger. On November 3, 1911 he shot dead an adult specimen in the northwest region, between Gunung Gondol and Banyupoh River, documenting it in his book "In The East Indian Archipelago", Budapest 1913. [4] According to the same book, the preferred method of hunting tigers in the island was catching them with a concealed, large and heavy steel foot trap over bait (goat or muntjak) and then dispatching it with a firearm at close quarters.

As in this example, a final blow to the ever low numbers of island's tiger population was during the Dutch colonial period, when shikari hunting trips were conducted by European sportsmen coming from Java Island, armed with high power rifles and Victorian Era romantic but disastrous hunting mentality, like Surabayan gunmaker E. Munaut, who is confirmed with killing over twenty tigers in Bali, over few years span.

The last confirmed tiger was an adult female, killed on Sep. 27, 1937 at Sumbar Kima, western Bali; since then, claims of sighting were made, but without proof, mostly by forestry officers in years 1952, 1970 and 1972. The last remaining tigers were pushed into western side, mostly into area that is now Bali Barat National Park, established for but too late to save the tigers, in 1947, but not too late for other endangered animals like the endemic Bali starling (Leucopsar rothschildi). Chances tigers survived without being observed are virtually impossible with the publicity, technology and growth of population and mass tourism in this island today.

The Balinese tiger, sadly, never got to be captured on film alive, on motion picture or displayed in a public zoo, but few skulls, skins and bones are preserved in museums. British Museum in London has the largest collection with two skins and three skulls, others include Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt, Naturkunde Museum in Stuttgart, Naturalis museum in Leiden and Zoological Museum of Bogor, Indonesia, who owns the remnants of the last known Balinese tiger ; in 1997 a skull emerged from the old collection of Hungarian Natural History Museum and was scientifically studied and properly documented.

Unlike stag hunting, which they mastered, very few if any Balinese launched into stalking tiger, whom aside from danger, was shone upon by malefic superstitions. Still, tigers had a well defined position in folkloric beliefs and magic. For example, the Balinese considered ground powdered tiger whiskers to be a potent and undetectable poison for one's foe. According to the same book mentioning this, Miguel Covarrubias "Island Of The Gods", 1937, when a Balinese baby was born he was given a protective amulet necklace with black coral and "a tiger's tooth or a piece of tiger bone".

Like other Asian nations, many Balinese people are fond of wearing tiger parts jewelry, for status or spiritual reasons like power and protection and necklaces of teeth and claws or male rings cabochoned with polished tiger tooth ivory still exist on everyday use. As tiger population disappeared on both Bali and neighboring Java, old parts are recycled or leopard and sun bear parts are used instead.

Updated 2010-10-30

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