The Caspian tiger
INTRODUCTION
The tiger of Caspian, also called "touranian tiger", "Persan tiger" or "tiger of Hyrcanie", officially disappeared in second half of the 20th century. The Russian authorities, at the beginning of the 20th century (1912), had indeed decided its extermination by the army like measures preparatory with the transformation of the Eurasian steppe into cultivable ground.
The species was the first of under species of tigers to being completely destroyed by the man.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The tiger of Caspian was as tall as the Bengal tiger, with an abundant fur, enormous legs and gigantic claws. Its belly was white bright and its head had a long flange.
Its characteristic compared to the other tigers is that he lived in immediate proximity of the villages and that one did not count that very little attack of his share.
DISTRIBUTION
At the origin, the tiger of Caspian was very widespread in Asia of south-west. He lived in Mongolia like in Russia of the south and west of China. One also found it in Central Asia in the Caucasus, in Afghanistan in Iran and Mésopotamie. It is thought that it could also have lived as far as Ukraine.
At the time modern, one found it in the south of the Caucasus, is of Turkey, the north of Iran and the north of Afghanistan. In 1972, one found the last traces of the species in the east of Turkey.
HISTORY
ROMA :
The tiger of Caspian was, with the Bengal tiger, the subspecies used in the Roman arenas. It was indeed for the Romans the deer easiest to get because it populated the Eastern end of the Roman empire.
The tigers were imported of the Caucasus, of Kurdistan, of Mésopotamie and Persia. The first tigers to be fought in Rome was a gift of an Indian ambassador to the Auguste Roman Emperor in .
In the Roman arenas, like with the Maxime circus, the tigers fought gladiators as well as aurochs or Barbary lions.
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