For some context, listed below is what I consider to be an up-to-date classification of the living (and extinct) subspecies and “populations”
(aka, previously valid subspecies) of tiger; and while this classification has been contested by some. This list should hopefully clear some confusion into what us ZooChatters consider to be their favorite tiger subspecies:
1. Mainland Tigers / Panthera tigris tigris
- P. t. tigris - Bengal
- P. t. tigris (altaica) - Siberian / Amur
- P. t. tigris (jacksoni) - Malayan
- P. t. tigris (virgata) - Caspian - {extinct}
- P. t. tigris (corbetii) - Indochinese
- P. t. tigris (amoyensis) - South Chinese
2. Sunda Tigers / Panthera tigris sondaica
- P. t. sondaica (sumatrae) - Sumatran
- P. t. sondaica - Javan - {extinct}
- P. t. sondaica (balica) - Balinese - {extinct}
As for what some ZooChatters call “generic” tigers
(which I personally find to be a slightly negative connotation). I propose that we should just call them tigers, regardless of their genetic background; and that they should be labeled as just
Panthera tigris.
Now what does this all have to do with my favorite subspecies of tiger? As this point, I should probably tell you that in short, it’s going to be a tie between the Malayan population of the Mainland Tiger and the Sumatran population of the Sunda Tiger. Why? well, it all comes down to what I personally consider as my all time favorite; and frankly, I’ve come to enjoy them equally. Especially, after seeing both populations across numerous facilities here in the states (including my local zoo, which used to have both).
