Join our zoo community

Help ID a vintage tiger photo!

Discussion in 'Zoo History' started by kermodei, 20 Jul 2022.

  1. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    5 Dec 2006
    Posts:
    20,775
    Location:
    england
    Wow, very interesting find. From this she could easily be mistaken for simply a female Siberian if you didn't know her provenance. I don't know of any captive Caspian anywhere after her.
     
    kermodei likes this.
  2. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    19 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    3,361
    Location:
    Everywhere at once
    Wow, I did not know there is any historical footage of a Caspian Tiger!

    It would be very interesting to make a collection of photos and films of now extinct animals on Zoochat. I am sure even specialists on tigers knew this footage existed!
     
    kermodei and Zulfu Farajli like this.
  3. Zulfu Farajli

    Zulfu Farajli Member

    Joined:
    22 Dec 2022
    Posts:
    12
    Location:
    Azerbaijan
    Yes, the source helps to ID it as Caspian, however, I compared footage with photos of Soraya before uploading this video (just to be sure). Nevertheless, even though it is black and white, you can still compare some differences between Caspian and Siberian, like distinct tail rings (less angular), the streaks being narrower and close-set and even the tint of fur being a bit darker than Amur tigers around (hard to notice though). I wish someone could professionally colorize this footage so we can enjoy it even more!

    And to my knowledge, there were some Caspians in captivity in Iran that died during the 1970s revolution. However, never came across details about them (no photo, exact dates, etc.)
     
    Last edited: 27 Dec 2022
    kermodei and Pertinax like this.
  4. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    5 Dec 2006
    Posts:
    20,775
    Location:
    england
    Yes I'd noticed about the stripes and the ground colour too- the latter is (was) deeper and less yellowish than in Siberian. Such a shame its not in colour but its extremely valuable as a record nonetheless.
     
    Zulfu Farajli likes this.
  5. kermodei

    kermodei Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    11 May 2022
    Posts:
    91
    Location:
    Canada
    Thank you so much for bringing this to the thread! So special to see Soraya and her partner in-life, in-motion.
     
    Zulfu Farajli likes this.