Wild Tiger’s Timeline

In the late 19th century, Russian settlers poured into the Far East to build the eastern Chinese railway and, in the process, tried deliberately to eradicate tigers from the land.

The Balinese Tiger became extinct in 1937 and until that time their habitat was on the Island of Bali. They were exceedingly small tigers and their extinction was due to heavy hunting. Sadly, there was not any kind of protection back then so hunting them for sport was ongoing. None of the Balinese Tigers are known to have ever been kept in captivity.

Image source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-Balinese-tiger-Oxford-21424-in-Table-4-shot-by-Cecil-HH-Heaps-far-right-in-Bali_fig3_257284014

The subspecies was saved by Russia, which became the first country in the world to grant the wild tiger full protection – and also by the Cold War, which saw the tiger’s forest home completely closed off to most people. By the 1980s, the population had increased to around 500.

The Caspian Tiger was officially declared as extinct but according to the revised taxonomy, they may have lasted into the 1970’s. Caspian Tigers were hunted, and lost their habitat due to human settlement. Furthermore, their prey was also hunted and killed by humans, giving the Caspian Tiger not much of a chance at survival.

In 1960, a two-year-old White Tiger in Rewa, Mohini, was bought by a businessman for US $10,000.00 and given to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. On 5th December 1960, Rewa appeared on the USA White House lawn with then president, Eisenhower.