Sunda Island tiger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sunda Island tiger |
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| A tiger from Sumatra. Sumatran tigers are one kind of Sunda Island tiger. | |
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The Sunda Island tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) is a tiger subspecies native to the Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The name refers to the:
- Javan tiger (P. t. sondaica) — the extinct tiger population of Java
- Bali tiger, formerly P. t. balica (Schwarz, 1912) — the extinct tiger population of Bali
- Sumatran tiger, formerly P. t. sumatrae (Pocock, 1929) — the living tiger population of Sumatra.
The Sunda Island tiger used to live in Indonesia, Java, Bali and Sumatra. Now the only living Sunda Island tigers are in Sumatra. The ones in Java and Bali all died.
The Sunda Island tiger is a subspecies of Panthera tigris, not a whole species by itself. This means their genes are a little different from those of tigers from other places. They are smaller than other tigers and more likely to have beards or manes of fur around their faces. They have thick black stripes over their orange fur. Scientists believe the Sunda island tigers became different from other tigers many years ago when the sea level rose and surrounded what is now the islands they live on.
They live in forests and swamps. There are fewer than 400 left alive in the wild. They weigh 165 to 308 pounds.
They are endangered because of illegal hunting by humans and deforestation.
