Bali tiger
The Bali tiger was a Panthera tigris sondaica population on the Indonesian island of Bali which has been extinct since the 1950s.
| Bali tiger | |
|---|---|
| A Bali tiger killed by M. Zanveld in the 1920s | |
Extinct (1950s) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Pantherinae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | P. tigris |
| Subspecies: | P. t. sondaica |
| Population: | †Bali tiger |
It was formerly regarded as a distinct tiger subspecies with the scientific name Panthera tigris balica, which had been assessed as extinct on the IUCN Red List in 2008. In 2017, felid taxonomy was revised, and it was subordinated to P. t. sondaica, which also includes the still surviving Sumatran tiger.
Results of a mitochondrial DNA analysis of 23 tiger samples from museum collections indicate that tigers colonized the Sunda Islands during the last glacial period 11,000–12,000 years ago.
In Bali, the last tigers were recorded in the late 1930s. A few individuals likely survived into the 1940s and possibly 1950s. The population was hunted to extirpation and its natural habitat converted for human use.
Balinese names for the tiger are harimau Bali and samong.