Malayan tiger

Description:

The Malayan tiger is a subspecies that inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula and has been classified as endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population was estimated at 493 to 1,480 adult individuals in 2003; none of the three subpopulations likely harbors more than 250 mature breeding individuals, with a declining trend. There is no clear difference between the Malayan and the Indochinese tiger when specimens from the two regions are compared cranially or in pelage. No type specimen was designated. Malayan tigers appear to be smaller than Indian ones. From measurements of 11 males and 8 females, the average length of a male is 8 ft 6 in (259 cm), and of a female 7 ft 10 in (239 cm).

Notes:

These 2 tigers are brothers and were spotted at Tulsa Zoo & Living Museum. They were coming of age at the time of the spotting and had begun to challenge each other with rough play. They were later separated, with one cat being sent to another zoo for breeding. The zoo recently ran a popular ad portraying one of the tigers lying in a most comfortable position on its back. The tagline was: "Malayan tiger... malayan around"