More than 40 years ago, the last known Javan tiger was seen by human eyes. In the intervening years, preservationists assumed the tiger was extinct — until a mysterious big cat was filmed by rangers at the Ujung Kulon National Park in West Java last month, The New York Times reports.
World Conversation Society tiger expert Wulan Pusparini cautioned that "when the video is frozen, the effect is that it looks like a tiger" but when the cat moves, it looks far more like a Javan leopard, which is endangered but not extinct.
Still, "this used to be Javan tiger habitat," the head of conservation at Ujung Kulon National Park said. "We hope that they're still there."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Javan tigers were thought to have been hunted into extinction, with the last confirmed sighting in 1979. The footage from the Ujung Kulon National Park has spurred the World Wildlife Fund into supporting an expedition to search for traces that the Javan tiger might still lurk in the Indonesian jungles.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Are British rappers the world’s best?Podcast Plus can the Maldives quit smoking? And can whales lead us to immortality?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A leap through the leaves, a typhoon's aftermath, and more
-
Microsoft pursues digital intelligence ‘aligned to human values’ in shift from OpenAIUNDER THE RADAR The iconic tech giant is jumping into the AI game with a bold new initiative designed to place people first in the search for digital intelligence
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
