The Indochinese tiger is a population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies that is native to Southeast Asia. This population occurs in Myanmar and Thailand In 2011, the population was thought to comprise 342 individuals, including 85 in Myanmar and 20 in Vietnam, with the largest population unit surviving in Thailand, estimated at 189 to 252 individuals during the period 2009 to 2014.
Taxonomy
Vratislav Mazák proposed Panthera tigris corbetti as a scientific name for this specific population in 1968 based on skin colouration, marking pattern, and skull dimensions. It was named in honor of Jim Corbett.
In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy and now recognizes the tiger populations of mainland South and Southeast Asia as belonging to the nominate subspecies P. tigris tigris. Results of a genetic study published in 2018 supported six monophyletic clades based on whole genome sequencing analysis of 32 tiger specimens. The specimens from Malaysia and Indochina appeared to be distinct from other mainland Asian populations, thus supporting the concept of six living subspecies.
Characteristics
The Indochinese tiger's ground colouration is darker, with more rather short and narrow single stripes; its skull is smaller than that of the Bengal tiger. Eleven Indochinese tiger skins in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London, have 21–31 stripes. In body size, it is smaller than the Bengal and Siberian tigers. Males range in size from and in weight, from . Females range in size from and in weight, from .
Distribution and habitat
The Indochinese tiger is distributed in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. Its historical range also included Cambodia, southern China and Vietnam. Results of a phylogeographic study, using 134 tiger samples across the global range, suggest that the historical northwestern distribution limit of the Indochinese tiger is the region in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Brahmaputra River basin, bordering the range of the Bengal tiger.
In Myanmar, surveys were conducted between 1999 and 2002, confirming the presence of tigers in the Hukawng Valley, Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary and in two small areas in the Tanintharyi Region. The Tenasserim Hills is an important area, but forests are harvested there. In 2015, tigers were recorded by camera traps for the first time in the hill forests of Kayin State. Camera trap surveys between 2016 and 2018 revealed about 22 adult individuals in three sites that represent 8% of the potential tiger habitat in the country.
More than half of the total Indochinese tiger population survives in the Western Forest Complex in Thailand, especially in the area of the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary. This habitat consists of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Camera trap surveys from 2008 to 2017 in eastern Thailand detected about 17 adult tigers in an area of in Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai Forest Complex. Several individuals had cubs. The population density in Thap Lan National Park, Pang Sida National Park and Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary was estimated at 0.32–1.21 individuals per . Three subadult tigers were photographed in spring 2020 in a remote region of Thailand that are thought to be dispersing.
In Laos, 14 tigers were documented in Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area during surveys from 2013 to 2017, covering four blocks of about semi-evergreen and evergreen forest that are interspersed with some patches of grassland. More recent surveys have failed to detect any tigers, and the likelihood is that they have been extirpated as a result of poaching, fueled by demand from China.
In eastern Cambodia, tigers were last recorded in Mondulkiri Protected Forest and Virachey National Park during surveys between 1999 and 2007. In 2016, the Cambodian government declared that the tiger was "functionally extinct". In April 2023, India signed a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia to assist the country with the tiger's reintroduction. At least of the Cardamom Mountains of Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary could be used to host Bengal tigers.
