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Extinct Tiger Species might have been seen in Indonesia

In Ujung Kulon Indonesian National park a photo was taken of something people thought was extinct for more than 40 years. The Javan tiger has only been in books, bedtime stories, and legends, but a new photo might have captured it.

Indonesia is currently the 4th most populated country in the world. And is the largest island country with over 13,000 islands. Each island can have it’s own culture, dialect or language, and can differ in  the main religion from a neighboring island.

Flag of Indonesia
Flag of Indonesia. Red top and white bottom.

Javan tiger

Ujung Kulon national park is located on the tip of one of the larger islands. It is a large forested area that is protected. Hopefully it has been protected enough for a thought to be extinct species of tiger to be living among the trees. 

A new photo in the park captures a large cat walking. Because of the distance and quality it is not completely certain what species it is. Large cats are present on the island, however are still very rare.

Javan Leopard

One employee believes it is species of leopard, the Javan leopard. It is the last predator on the island and is critically endangered. Critically endangered is one step away from being extinct. There are only 250 mature adults in the world. Javan leopards are only found in Southeast Asia and two Zoos in Europe.

Still walking

The photo is either a species of extinct tiger or critically endangered leopard. No matter what animal is in the photo we can be glad that it is alive and active.

Javan Leopard in Indonesia
A Javan Leopard

You can read more about this on the New York Time’s website.

Written by Ray Lopez

6 Comments

  1. I wonder how much money the Indonesian government spends on conservation and how much it would cost to save the tigers.

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