Learn About 10 Recently Extinct Tigers and Lions

Few creatures on earth are as threatened by extinction today as big cats—lions, tigers, and cheetahs, among other breeds. The past 10,000 years have witnessed the demise of no fewer than 10 species and subspecies of big cats, and even still-extant lions, tigers, and cheetahs are hovering on the brink of extinction, thanks to poaching, relentless ecological disruption, and loss of habitat.  

01
of 10

The American Cheetah

The American cheetah
Darrell Miller / Getty Images

Despite its name, the American cheetah (genus Miracinonyx) was more closely related to pumas and jaguars than to modern cheetahs. Its slim, muscular, cheetah-like body can be chalked up to convergent evolution, which is the tendency for animals that pursue similar lifestyles and inhabit similar ecosystems—in this case, the wide, grassy plains of North America and Africa—to evolve similar body plans. As fast and sleek as it was, the American cheetah went extinct about 10,000 years ago, shortly after the last Ice Age, possibly as a result of human encroachment on its territory. 

02
of 10

The American Lion

American Lion on black background
Hillary Kladke / Getty Images

As with the American cheetah, the big-cat affiliations of the American lion (Panthera leo atrox) are in some doubt: This Pleistocene predator may actually have been more closely related to tigers and jaguars than to modern lions. The amazing thing about the American lion is that it coexisted and competed with both Smilodon (aka the saber-toothed tiger, below) and Canis dirus, also known as the dire wolf. If it was, in fact, a subspecies of lion, the American lion was by far the heaviest member of its breed, some pack-alpha males weighing as much as half a ton (454 kg). 

03
of 10

The Bali Tiger

The Bali Tiger

HADI ZAHER / Getty Images

As you might have surmised from its name, the Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica) was native to the Indonesian island of Bali, where the last sighting was in 1937. For thousands of years, the Bali tiger coexisted uneasily with the indigenous human settlers of Indonesia; however, it didn't find itself truly imperiled until the arrival of the first European traders and mercenaries, who mercilessly hunted this tiger to extinction, sometimes simply for sport and sometimes to protect their animals and homesteads.

04
of 10

The Barbary Lion

Barbary Lion in the water. Panthera leo leo. Extinct in the wild
Daniel Hernanz Ramos / Getty Images

One of the more fearsome subspecies of Panthera leo, the Barbary lion (Panthera leo leo) was a prized possession of medieval British lords who wanted a novel way to intimidate their serfs; a few large, shaggy individuals even made their way from northern Africa to the menagerie of the Tower of London, where countless British aristocrats were imprisoned and executed. Barbary lion males possessed especially large manes, and they were among the largest lions of historical times, weighing as much as 500 pounds (227 kg) apiece. It may yet prove possible to reintroduce the Barbary lion into the wild by selective breeding of its scattered descendants. 

05
of 10

The Cape Lion

The Cape lion, Panthera leo melanochaitus, holds a tenuous position in the big-cat classification books; some naturalists maintain that it shouldn't count as a Panthera leo subspecies at all and was, in fact, a mere geographical offshoot of the still-extant but dwindling Transvaal lion of South Africa. Whatever the case, the last specimens of this big-maned lion breed expired in the late 19th century, and no convincing sightings have been recorded since.

06
of 10

The Caspian Tiger

Of all the big cats that have gone extinct over the last 100 years, the Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) occupied the largest expanse of territory, ranging from Iran to the Caucasus to the vast, windswept steppes of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. We can credit imperial Russia, which bordered these regions, for the extinction of this majestic beast. Tsarist officials set a bounty on the Caspian tiger during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and starving Russian citizens eagerly complied. As with the Barbary lion, it may yet prove possible to "de-extinct" the Caspian tiger via the selective breeding of its descendants.

07
of 10

The Cave Lion

Probably the most famous of all extinct big cats next to the saber-toothed tiger—if only for its close association with the cave bear, on which it regularly lunched—the cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea) was one of the apex predators of Pleistocene Eurasia. Oddly enough, this lion didn't live in dark grottoes; it earned its name because various individuals were unearthed in dank European caves, which Panthera leo spelaea packs raided in search of bear-sized meals. An angry, full-grown cave bear would have been an even match for an 800-pound (363 kg), cave lion male.

08
of 10

The European Lion

Confusingly, what paleontologists refer to as the European lion comprised as many as three, rather than just one, subspecies of Panthera leo: Panthera leo europaea, Panthera leo tartarica, and Panthera leo fossilis. One thing all these big cats shared in common was their relatively large size. Some males approached 400 pounds (181 kg), with females—as always in the big cat family—being slightly smaller. They also shared their susceptibility to encroachment and capture by representatives of early European "civilization." For example, European lions featured in the gruesome arena combat games of ancient Rome. 

09
of 10

The Javan Tiger

Javan Tiger

F. W. Bond (d. 1942)/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

 

Like its close relative in oblivion, the Bali tiger, the Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) was restricted to a single island in the vast Indonesian archipelago. Unlike the Bali tiger, though, the Javan tiger succumbed not to relentless hunting by settlers bent on preserving their livestock but to relentless encroachment on its territory, as the human population of Java exploded during the 19th and 20th centuries and continues to grow today. The last Javan tiger was glimpsed in 1976; in fall 2017 a sighting was debated, though it may turn out to have been a rarely seen Javan leopard. 

10
of 10

The Saber-Tooth Tiger

A Smilodon sits on a rock surrounded by golden fall fields.
Daniel Eskridge/Stocktrek Images / Getty Images

The last big cat on this list is a bit of a ringer: Despite its name, the saber-toothed tiger (aka Smilodon) wasn't technically a tiger, and it went extinct at the cusp of the historical era, about 10,000 years ago. Still, given its enduring place in the popular imagination, Smilodon at least merits a mention. This was one of the most dangerous predators of the Pleistocene epoch, capable of sinking its canines into large megafauna mammals and cruelly waiting nearby as its victims bled to death. As intimidating as it was, though, Smilodon was no match for early Homo sapiens, who hunted it to extinction shortly after the last ice age. 

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Strauss, Bob. "Learn About 10 Recently Extinct Tigers and Lions." ThoughtCo, Sep. 1, 2021, thoughtco.com/recently-extinct-tigers-and-lions-1092148. Strauss, Bob. (2021, September 1). Learn About 10 Recently Extinct Tigers and Lions. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/recently-extinct-tigers-and-lions-1092148 Strauss, Bob. "Learn About 10 Recently Extinct Tigers and Lions." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/recently-extinct-tigers-and-lions-1092148 (accessed March 28, 2024).