Abstract
This chapter presents the details about nomenclature, subspecies, physical characteristics, and numbers of tigers. The scientific name, Panthera tigris is based on a classification of all Felidae, the family of cats, published in 1917 by Reginald Pocock of the Natural History Museum in London. According to “modern” systematic notions, tigers are found only in Asia, but in earlier times some African and American big cats were also called “tigers” by many Europeans. Of the tiger species, eight subspecies present in historical times can be distinguished, of which three are extinct or close to extinction. The chapter reveals that although the number of Sumatran tigers seems impressive compared to the possible handful of Javan tigers, the subspecies is evidently endangered. It also finds that the island tigers of Sumatra, Java, and Bali are somewhat darker and smaller than all mainland subspecies.
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