Maltese blue tiger - myth or reality? The elusive blue tiger.

The Maltese, or blue tiger, is a legendary large cat with tiger-like stripes, most commonly reported from the Fujian province of China. This striking animal is said to have bluish fur with dark gray stripes.

The term "Maltese" refers to the blue fur of domestic cats, which is actually a bluish-gray shade. In Malta you can find many cats with a similar color, which perhaps gives such meaning to the adjective “Maltese”. Be that as it may, blue tigers have nothing to do with the island of Malta.

Harry R. Caldwell, an American Methodist missionary and big game hunter who killed dozens of big cats while in China, saw and chased a blue tiger in southeastern China, which he described in his book The Blue Tiger (1924).

In September 1910, Caldwell was in Fujian province, in the vicinity of Fuzhou, doing a very prosaic task - he was looking after a goat. Caldwell noticed the tiger, but at first glance it seemed to him to be a leaning peasant in a blue jacket. As Caldwell later wrote in his book: “Suddenly I saw a huge tiger’s head above what seemed to me to be blue peasant clothes. As it turned out, I was looking at the chest and belly of the beast.” Caldwell grabbed the gun, but realized that he could not shoot - there were local children around - while he was changing position, the tiger disappeared.

Then Caldwell’s hunting companion, Roy Chapman Andrews, quoted him as follows in his book Halts and Campaigns in China (1925, Chapter VII): “The coloring of this animal is strikingly beautiful. The main color is a deep shade of Maltese, turning into a light gray-blue on the belly. Against this background, stripes were clearly visible, the same as those of an ordinary yellow tiger.”

The peasants confirmed that “black devils” were indeed roaming around the village. Together with his son John, Caldwell repeatedly organized expeditions in search of the blue tiger, which he nicknamed “Bluebeard,” but they all ended in failure, although John several times found scraps of Maltese-colored fur on the branches of trees and bushes.

It is possible that Maltese tigers were a subspecies south china tiger, which is now under threat of extinction, so that individuals with “blue” alleles (forms of the gene) could have completely disappeared from the face of the earth. Encouragingly, reports of blue tigers have also come from Burma (Myanmar) and Korea, the motherland of Amur tigers. The famous British zoologist and cryptozoologist Carl Shuker cited in his book “The Mysterious Cats of the World” (1989) the story of the son of a US Army soldier who served in Korea during Korean War. His father is sure that he saw exactly the blue tiger in the mountains, not far from where the demilitarized zone is now located.

Rationale for blue

Unfortunately, there is still no solid evidence of the existence of the blue tiger - there are no reports from experts, not a single photograph or video. Although Caldwell was a very reliable eyewitness, just one report cannot be used to prove the existence of an animal. In any case, experts are quite skeptical about such evidence, some even believe that Maltese tigers are ordinary orange tigers rolling around in the mud.

Artistic depiction of a Maltese tiger

But black tigers were also considered a myth for a long time, and several skins found proved that melanistic tigers really exist. Such tigers are not completely black, their black stripes are much wider than usual, so that the main orange color is almost invisible.

The theory of the existence of the blue tiger is supported by the fact that Maltese-colored cats are not at all uncommon. There are well-known breeds of domestic cats, such as the Russian Blue, various British Shorthairs, and the British Blue. Blue lynxes are also found. Some genetic mutations and combinations thereof can cause a bluish tint, or at least the appearance that the animal's fur is a bluish-gray color. Shuker believed that blue tigers possessed two pairs of recessive alleles, the non-agouti and the degenerate gene, which combine to produce a stable bluish-gray color in domestic cats, although it is not clear then where the stripes came from in the tigers seen.

A simple combination of a non-agouti and a degenerate gene could indeed produce a blue-gray or "Maltese" tiger, but in such an animal the stripes would be subtle or non-existent: in ordinary tigers the genes "switch" clearly between agoutis ( orange) and non-agouti (black) in different parts of their fur. Due to the non-agouti mutation, tigers would likely appear similar to black panthers, the coloring of which is “ghostly”, that is, the entire skin of the panthers is black, but the fur inside the leopard spots has a different structure, so the “black-on-black” spots are visible with appropriate lighting. Combined with more weakened alleles, the color would be gray, but again the tiger would be either solid or "ghostly" striped.

To achieve Maltese striped fur, pheomelanin production must be suppressed (to replace orange with grey) but agouti (for striping) must be retained. Most likely, melanism is also present here, because, as Caldwell reported, the tiger's belly was not pure white. A similar genotype is known in cheetahs: it causes their fur to become bluish-gray with a dark gray slate pattern.

In small or isolated populations, genetic drift can cause unusual traits, such as abnormal coloration, and if the mutation is not harmful, it can spread quickly. Now, apparently, only a few (if any) of these tigers remain in the wild. If you estimate the number of observations, the population may consist of about 30 of these amazing animals.

Today, the blue tiger remains one of the most mysterious big cats in the world.

June 30th, 2013 , 09:58 pm

We all know that the tiger is a fiery cat with black stripes, we also know about the beautiful white Bengal tigers - snow-white with black stripes. What do we know about golden, black and Maltese tigers? Today I will tell you about them :)

Golden Tiger

The golden tiger is the most rare color variation caused by a recessive gene. Such representatives of tigers differ slightly from their relatives large size and softer golden fur with orange stripes, black stripes can only be seen on some individuals at the tip of the tail. There is a version that the development of this type of color gradually developed in a group of tigers, one of whose representatives possessed a recessive gene for golden color and periodically interbred with its offspring. The color that appeared served as additional camouflage for such tigers living in areas rich in clay soils. On this moment There are about 30 golden tigers in captivity.

Black Tiger

The black tiger is a rare color variation of the tiger and is not a distinct species or geographic subspecies. Black tigers are named because of pseudomelanosis. The black stripes of pseudomelanistic tigers are so close together that the background color is barely visible between them. For a long time black tigers were considered a myth, however, several skins have proven that pseudo-melanists exist. Melanistic tigers, unlike black tigers, are uniformly black without stripes. Melanistic tiger was captured only once; now this image is lost.

Maltese (blue) tiger

Artistic representation of a Maltese tiger

The existence of the Maltese (blue) tiger has not been proven, but reports of encounters with it periodically come from the Chinese province of Fujian and Korea. Based on these reports, the tiger has bluish fur with dark gray stripes. Possibly due to illegal hunting of tigers in China, the blue variety of tigers has become completely extinct. Around 1910, Harry Caldwell, an American missionary and big game hunter, was hunting a blue tiger in the vicinity of Fuzhou. His search is described in the book “The Blue Tiger” by Roy Chappen Andrews (1924): “The color of the animal is strikingly beautiful. The main color has a delicate Maltese tint, changing to a light gray-blue towards the bottom. The stripes stand out clearly, like an ordinary yellow tiger.” . A later report of a Maltese tiger came from a US military personnel during the Korean campaign. A soldier saw a blue tiger in the mountains near the demilitarized zone. This meeting is described in the book “Mysterious Cats of the World” by Karl Shuker. There have also been reports of blue tigers from Burma.

White Tiger

White Bengal tigers have black and brown stripes on their white fur and blue eyes. This coloration is very rare among wild animals, but is often common in captive populations. Only one is born per 10,000 tigers white. The first mention of a white tiger dates back to 1951, when one of the hunters found a white tiger cub in the lair of a tigress. This tiger was crossed with a female of normal color, who gave birth to 4 red tiger cubs. Then white tiger crossed with one of his daughters, and in a litter of three cubs, two turned out to be white. Thus, all white tigers kept in captivity are descendants of one individual. There are currently about 130 white tigers in zoos.

White Bengal tiger is not an albino. Albino tiger has no black stripes at all.

The Maltese, or blue tiger, is a legendary large cat with stripes like a tiger. Most often, reports about it come from eyewitnesses from the southern part of China. They claim that this animal has bluish fur with dark gray stripes.

The term "Maltese" refers to the blue fur of domestic cats, which is actually a bluish-gray shade. In Malta you can find many cats with a similar color, which gives such meaning to the adjective “Maltese”.

It is possible that Maltese tigers were a subspecies of the South China tiger, which is now in danger of extinction, so individuals with “blue” alleles (forms of the gene) may have completely disappeared from the face of the earth. Encouragingly, reports of blue tigers have also come from Burma (Myanmar) and Korea, the homeland of the Siberian tigers. Experts are quite skeptical about such evidence, some even believe that Maltese tigers are ordinary orange tigers rolling around in the mud. But black tigers have also long been considered a myth, and several skins found have proven that melanistic tigers do exist. Such tigers are not completely black, their black stripes are much wider than usual, so that the main orange color is almost invisible.

The theory of the existence of the blue tiger is supported by the fact that representatives of the cat family of blue color are not at all uncommon. There are well-known breeds of domestic cats, such as the Russian Blue, various British Shorthairs, and the British Blue. Blue lynxes are also found. Certain genetic mutations and combinations of them can cause a bluish tint, or at least the appearance that an animal's fur is a bluish-gray color.

In isolated populations, genetic changes can cause unusual mutations, such as abnormal coloration, and if the mutation is not harmful, it can spread quickly.

There are nine subspecies of tigers in the world. These are the Malayan, Amur, Bengal, Sumatran, South China and Indochinese tigers.

While these six subspecies can still be found today, the remaining three subspecies, such as the Caspian, Bali and Javan tigers, were exterminated by humans or became extinct due to the destruction of their habitat.

Amur or Ussuri tiger

The largest subspecies of predatory cats. Length of an adult male Ussuri tiger(lat. Panthera tigris altaica) can reach 280 cm, and weight – 320 kg. Moreover, the length of the tail alone is approximately one meter. It is not surprising that these tigers have a great need for food and are capable of eating up to 25 kg at a time. meat. In the way that Amur tiger was always full of energy, he must consume at least 9 kg per day. meat. However, it is known that in the absence of prey, a tiger can survive on a starvation diet for a week.

Bengal tiger

This predatory cat, as the name suggests, is a Bengal tiger (lat. Panthera tigris tigris or Panthera tigris bengalensis) lives in India. However, sometimes it can be found in neighboring countries. This subspecies numbers approximately 1,200 individuals, the size of which is not much smaller than the size of the Siberian tiger - 3 meters long and 260 kg. weight.

Indochinese tiger or Corbet's tiger

Distributed in the southernmost regions of China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. There are approximately 900 individuals of this subspecies. The population of these tigers (lat. Panthera tigris corbetti) has been poorly studied, since tigers live, as a rule, in the inaccessible forests of Indochina.

Malayan tiger

Six years ago, during research, it became known about another subspecies of tigers - the Malayan (lat. Panthera tigris jacksoni). The number of individuals of this subspecies is five hundred.

Chinese tiger

Judging by the fact that there are only 20 individuals left in the wild, namely in the central and southeastern parts of China, this subspecies of tigers (lat. Panthera tigris amoyensis) is classified as a rare and almost extinct species.

Sumatran tiger

The life of this subspecies takes place in Sumatra. IN wildlife There are approximately 400 individuals, the remaining 235 languish in zoos. With development Agriculture the number of individuals began to decrease noticeably due to which a program was launched to organize national parks. Sumatran tiger (lat. Panthera tigris sumatrae) is much smaller than other subspecies. So, an adult male weighs a maximum of 140 kg.

As for the completely exterminated subspecies...

Caspian or Turanian tiger

(lat. Panthera tigris virgata) could previously be found in Central Asia and throughout the entire territory up to the Caucasus. The coat color of this subspecies was bright red, and the stripes were longer with a brownish tint. With the onset of cold weather, the fur became fluffy and thick, and lush sideburns also grew. Exterminated in the 1970s.

Javan tiger

We lived on the island of Java (Indonesia). Considered the smallest subspecies (lat. Panthera tigris sondaica) . Its weight was no more than 140 kg with a body length of 245 cm. The weight and size of females was half that of males. It was exterminated relatively recently - in the 1980s.

Bali tiger

Lived on the island of Bali and is completely extinct. Smallest in weight and size than others predatory cats. Body (lat. Panthera tigris balica) was covered with short, bright orange fur with black stripes, the number of which was much smaller than in other subspecies. Exterminated in the 1940s.

Color mutations

Tigers are characterized by a mutation in coat color. It is for this reason that they are often born, which, however, does not mean that they are albinos. After all, their fur, although white, is covered with black stripes, and their eye color is blue or amber, which is typical for tigers with a normal color.

In addition, their non-albino status can be judged by the presence of melanin, the amount of which is not large, but is still present, which cannot be said about albinos. Birth at one time or another can occur in each subspecies. But if one of the parents was of the Amur subspecies, then the baby has a better chance of being born white. In addition to white tigers, there are even more exotic tigers in nature. The coat of this subspecies is light with brown stripes.

The white areas of the fur are larger in size than those of tigers of other subspecies. It is common not only among purebred Bengal tigers; it can often be found among those in whose veins the blood of the Amur subspecies flows.

And finally, a video about tigers...

era geographical discoveries was filled with the spirit of exploration, and encounters with unusual animals evoked admiration and amazement. Currently, the idea has become firmly established in the human consciousness that all territories of our vast planet have been studied, and mysterious creatures described by scientists. Many people believe that it is now extremely problematic to open the new kind or prove the existence of extraordinary creatures.

What if we imagine that the world is much bigger? And some animals are a mystery to humans! By the way, one of them is the Maltese tiger - a species not recognized by official science.

The blue tiger, as they are also called, is an almost mythical creature: after all, apart from eyewitness accounts, there is no other evidence.

To date, people have not been able to find either the animal, its body, or even a photo. However, from time to time, witness reports come from Fujian, China, Korea and Burma. This is where, according to local residents, the blue tiger is most often seen.

Appearance description

The name "Maltese" tiger acquired only because they were spotted on this island large quantity than in other areas.

Appearance tigers are striking and delightful at the same time: their fur has a grayish-bluish tint, and the stripes on their body are black, clearly defined.

Harry Caldwell's Observations

The first reports of the Maltese tiger appeared in 1910. Harry R. Caldwell, an American hunter and missionary, traveled to China.

His passion was big cats: While traveling around the country, he killed more than ten. But the blue tiger was caught only once.

Seeing him in the vicinity of Fuzhou, Caldwell mistook him for a peasant in blue clothes, bending over the ground. But after some time he saw the head of a tiger.

Harry couldn't shoot because there were children nearby. Trying to avoid dangerous situations, changing positions and waiting for an opportunity, the American hunter missed the unusual animal.

After this meeting, Harry Caldwell's dream became the opportunity to shoot a blue cat and get its skin. He repeatedly organized expeditions with his son John, but they were unable to find anything other than a few scraps of wool.

According to local residents, they also met the Maltese tiger, calling it the “blue devil.”

Richard Perry and Roy Andrews

In his book The World of Tigers, R. Perry confirmed that the blue tiger is a real creature, and they were regularly seen in China. And she received the nickname “blue devil” because she attacked people, killing them.

Another book in which these tigers were mentioned was published by Roy Andrews, already known to us. The seventh chapter of the travel diary, published in 1918, contains references to this mythical animal.

How real is the Maltese tiger?

Unfortunately, the testimony of witnesses and eyewitnesses alone is not enough to officially register this magnificent cat. But, alas, there is no material evidence: no photos, no videos, no animal skins.

However, there are several facts that can support the possibility of the existence of Maltese tigers.

Interesting fact. In 1960, an unusual tiger was born at the Oklahoma State Zoo: its skin had a silver-gray tint and rich black stripes. It is said that the feline lived to an old age, and after his death a stuffed animal was made. It is this fact that allows some scientists not to doubt the reality of Maltese tigers.

Most skeptics refuse to believe in the existence of the blue tiger. But it’s understandable: there is nothing more than Caldwell’s words.

Unfortunately, the answer to this question remains a mystery at the moment. It is unknown whether the Maltese tiger has survived in nature as a species or has become extinct completely.

It is also not worth expecting that cryptozoologists will soon discover evidence: more than a dozen years may pass. Perhaps this tiger will remain so legendary creature on par with the black lion or blue cheetah.