Maltese Tiger

Panthera tigris amoyensis

Maltese Tiger

“ An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger. ”

– Confucius

Scientific Taxonomy & Character Information

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Clade: Synapsida

Class: Mammalia

Order: Feliforma

Family: Felidae

Genius: Panthera

Species: Panthera tigris

Subspecies: Panthera tigris tigris 

Variant: Panthera tigris tigris var. amoyensis

Descendant: Panthera zdanskyi

Named by: Carl Linnaeus

Year Published: 1758

Size: 80 – 110 cm tall in height; 90 – 310 kg in length; 2.5 – 3.9 m in weight

Lifespan: 10 to 20+ years

Type: 

Title: 

Pantheon: 

Time Period: Holocene

Alignment: Neutral

Threat Level: ★★★★★

Diet: Carnivorous, partially omnivorous

Elements: Leaf, dark

Inflicts: Sundered, impaled, bleeding

Weaknesses: Fire, air, earth, ice, fae, chaos, bleeding, bombed, poison, stunned

Casualties: ???

Based On: itself

Conservation Status: Endangered (EN) - IUCN Red List

Maltese Tiger or Blue Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris var. amoyensis) (Mandarin: 蓝虎 / Lán hǔ; Cantonese: 藍䖎 / lán xiá , 藍老虎 / lán lǎo hǔ) is a creature reported but unproven coloration morph of a tiger, reported mostly in the Fujian Province of China.

Etymology

The term "Maltese" comes from domestic cat terminology for blue fur, and refers to the slate grey coloration. Many cats with such coloration are present in Malta, which may have given rise to the use of the adjective in this context.

Physical Appearance

The tiger has a muscular body with strong forelimbs, a large head and a tail that is about half the length of its body. Its pelage colouration varies between shades of orange with a white underside and distinctive vertical black stripes; the patterns of which are unique in each individual. Stripes are likely advantageous for camouflage in vegetation such as long grass with strong vertical patterns of light and shade. The tiger is one of only a few striped cat species; it is not known why spotted patterns and rosettes are the more common camouflage pattern among felids. The orange color may also aid in camouflage as the tiger's prey are dichromats, and thus may perceive the cat as green and blended in with the vegetation. 


A tiger's coat pattern is still visible when it is shaved. This is not due to skin pigmentation, but to the stubble and hair follicles embedded in the skin. It has a mane-like heavy growth of fur around the neck and jaws and long whiskers, especially in males. The pupils are circular with yellow irises. The small, rounded ears have a prominent white spot on the back, surrounded by black. These spots are thought to play an important role in intraspecific communication.


There are three other color variants – white, golden and nearly stripeless snow white – that are now virtually non-existent in the wild due to the reduction of wild tiger populations, but continue in captive populations. The white tiger has white fur and sepia-brown stripes. The golden tiger has a pale golden pelage with a blond tone and reddish-brown stripes. The snow white tiger is a morph with extremely faint stripes and a pale reddish-brown ringed tail. Both snow white and golden tigers are homozygous for CORIN gene mutations. There are also records of pseudomelanic or black tigers which have thick stripes that merge. In Simlipal National Park, 37% of the tiger population has this condition, which has been linked to isolation and inbreeding, in fact, witches are believed to be associated with black tigers.


It is said to have bluish fur with dark grey stripes. Most of the Maltese tigers reported have been of the South Chinese subspecies. The South Chinese tiger today is critically endangered, due to their illegal and continued use in traditional Chinese medicine and the "blue" alleles may be wholly extinct. Blue tigers have also been reported in Korea.


For a Maltese-and-striped fur, pheomelanin production must probably be suppressed (to switch from an orange to a greyish color) but agouti retained (to yield darker stripes); perhaps some hypermelanism would also be present, to produce an animal with a non-white belly as reported by Caldwell. Indeed, such a genotype is known in cheetahs, where it produces animals that are bluish gray with dark slate grey pattern. If factors such as lighting conditions are accounted for, this makes a reasonable match with Caldwell's individual.


A variant expression of the non-inhibited pigment ("chinchilla") allele is also sometimes deemed possible. This would produce a "haze" effect over the whole body. Combined with a pheomelanin suppression, it would produce a white animal with light gray pattern; such specimens are also known in the cheetah.

Abilities

Tiger is the one of the few animals that have the ability to stealth mode, deals 15% additional damage when attacking from behind. In the bush, the tiger enters stealth if it has not taken or dealt any damage in 2 seconds. (It will be detected when close to the enemy.) Upon dealing damage, being detected by enemies or leaving the bush for 5 seconds, it loses their stealth.


Adult tigers when not tamed, feeding with raw meats of any choice that receive special effects called "Tiger's Eye". This effect when not being attacked by a wild and owner's tiger under the incantation. Despite their strength and fearsome appearance, these creatures are far from monsters.


Adult tigers, when tamed, cannot receive the special effect while under taming. As a symbol of evil omens, specifically being suspected of being the familiars of witches, or actually shape-shifting witches themselves called Black Tiger. All countries in Europe and Asia consider the black tiger or melanistic panthers a symbol of bad luck, particularly if one walks across the path in front of a person, which is believed to be an omen of misfortune and death.

Ecology

When not subject to human disturbance, the tiger is mainly diurnal. It does not often climb trees but cases have been recorded. It is a strong swimmer and often bathes in ponds, lakes and rivers, thus keeping cool in the heat of the day.


Tiger cubs stay with their mother for about two years, before they become independent and leave their mother's home range to establish their own. Wild tigers that have had no prior contact with humans actively avoid interactions with humans. In the wild, tigers mostly feed on large and medium-sized mammals, particularly ungulates weighing 60–250 kg (130–550 lb). The most significantly preferred species are sambar deer, wapiti, barasingha and wild boar. Tigers are capable of taking down larger prey like adult gaur and wild water buffalo but will also opportunistically eat much smaller prey, such as monkeys, peafowl and other ground-based birds, hares, porcupines, and fish. They also prey on other predators, including dogs, leopards, pythons, bears, and crocodiles. Tigers generally do not prey on fully grown adult Asian elephants and Indian rhinoceros but incidents have been reported. More often, it is the more vulnerable small calves that are taken. When in close proximity to humans, tigers will also sometimes prey on such domestic livestock as cattle, horses, and donkeys. Although almost exclusively carnivorous, tigers will occasionally eat vegetation for dietary fiber such as fruit of the slow match tree.


The tiger is an obligate carnivore. It prefers hunting large ungulates, frequently kills wild boar, and occasionally hog deer, muntjac and gray langur. Small prey species such as porcupines, hares and peafowl form a very small part in its diet. Domestic livestock is preyed upon in areas of human encroachment. In the former range of the South China tiger additional tiger prey species may have included serow, tufted deer and sambar. In most cases, tigers approach prey from the side or behind from as close a distance as possible and grasp the prey's throat to kill it. Then they drag the carcass into cover, occasionally over several hundred meters, to consume it. The nature of the tiger's hunting method and prey availability results in a "feast or famine" feeding style: they often consume 18–40 kg (40–88 lb) of meat at one time.


Tigers usually prefer to eat self-killed prey, but eat carrion in times of scarcity and also steal prey from other large carnivores. Although predators typically avoid one another, if a prize is under dispute or a serious competitor is encountered, displays of aggression are common. If these fail, the conflicts may turn violent; tigers may kill or even prey on competitors such as leopards, dholes, striped hyenas, wolves, bears, pythons, and mugger crocodiles on occasion. However, tigers cause more human deaths through direct attack than any other wild mammal, considered as man-eating tigers being an apex predator.


The Maltese tiger is among the rarest specimens in the natural animal kingdom. There is a 1 in 10,000 chance of getting one by selective breeding. Many speculate that only small, inbred mutations can make the Maltese color.

Behavior

It is territorial and generally a solitary but social predator, requiring large contiguous areas of habitat, which support its requirements for prey and rearing of its offspring.

Distribution and Habitat

Tiger once ranged widely across Asia, from Turkey in the west to the eastern coast of Russia to Korea. Over the past 100 years Tigers have disappeared from southwest and central Asia, from two Indonesian islands (Java and Bali) and from large areas of Southeast and Eastern Asia. Tigers inhabit less than 6% of their historic range. Tigers are found mainly in the forests of tropical Asia, although they historically occurred more widely in drier and colder climes.


In small or isolated populations, genetic drift can fix unusual traits such as aberrant coloration. A non-harmful mutation can soon become widespread in small, isolated populations. Moreover, if the mutant gene confers benefits, such as better camouflage, then affected individuals may out-compete those without the mutation; this would happen faster in a small inbred population close to panmixia. A sighting in around 1910 of an unusual blue-coloured or "Maltese" tiger outside Fuzhou in the Fujian Province was reported by Harry Caldwell and Roy Chapman Andrews.


Tamed

Adult tiger cannot be tamed when it is an adult stage. Only in cub one was notable exceptions. Can be tamed the abandoned kitten using any raw fish, meat, or milk.

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