What Happened On September 27th?
On September 27, 1937, a hunter fired the shot that killed the last known Bali tiger in the forests of western Bali, near Sumbar Kima. The tiger, a female, had likely roamed alone for years, surviving in what little remained of her species’ habitat. The hunter, unaware of the magnitude of the moment, claimed her pelt. The extinction of the Bali tiger followed decades of habitat destruction and relentless hunting, slowly erasing the presence of these elusive animals from the island.
The Bali tiger, much smaller than other tiger subspecies, seldom grew longer than six feet. Its reduced size and striking coat of dark orange with fewer stripes made it a prized target for trophy hunters. These hunters saw the Bali tiger as a rare and exotic prize, coveted for its distinctive appearance. By the time European colonists arrived in Bali in the early 20th century, the tiger population had already begun to decline. Still, the allure of hunting a creature so rarely seen pushed the species closer to the brink.
Dutch colonists significantly hastened the Bali tiger’s downfall. They cleared vast areas of forest to establish coffee and rice plantations, severely reducing the tiger’s territory. Bali, a relatively small island, offered limited habitat even before deforestation began. The expansion of agriculture and the resulting fragmentation of the island’s remaining forests left the tigers with few places to roam. Where they once moved freely through dense jungle, they found themselves confined to isolated patches, unable to escape human interference.
For the colonists, hunting the Bali tiger became a symbol of status. By the early 1900s, tiger sightings were already rare, but this scarcity only increased their value to hunters. Dutch authorities even offered rewards for tiger pelts, prompting locals to join the hunt. The smaller, more elusive Bali tiger challenged the skills of hunters, who pursued these animals through the dense forests for days. A successful kill represented more than a trophy; it was proof of one’s ability to conquer a creature that had become increasingly difficult to find.
The destruction of the island’s wildlife compounded the tiger’s struggles. Wild boar and barking deer, the main prey of the Bali tiger, became scarce as more land was cleared for agriculture. Hungry tigers, with little else to eat, turned to livestock, particularly cattle and goats. This brought the tigers into conflict with farmers, who viewed them as threats to their livelihoods. In retaliation, farmers set traps and poisoned bait to protect their livestock, hastening the decline of the tiger population. These retaliatory measures, combined with habitat loss, left the species with few chances for survival.
Natural disasters also played a role in their extinction. In 1917, a powerful earthquake struck Bali, causing landslides that destroyed large areas of the remaining forests. Farmers often set fires to clear land for crops, further reducing what little jungle remained. By the 1930s, the remaining tigers had been pushed into smaller and smaller sections of the island. Isolated and unable to breed, their population dwindled to the point where their extinction became inevitable.
As the tiger population declined, sightings became rare. Farmers occasionally reported seeing tracks or hearing distant growls at night, but such encounters were few and far between. In 1925, a Dutch naturalist mistakenly declared the Bali tiger extinct, though a few individuals still survived in the island’s remote jungles. This misjudgment reflected the lack of attention given to the species as it approached its final days. By the time the last tiger was killed in 1937, few people realized what had occurred, and no official records of the event exist.
Even as the Bali tiger vanished from the island’s forests, its place in Balinese culture remained strong. Local shamans believed they could summon the spirits of tigers, using their power to offer protection or exact revenge. The tiger, long respected and feared, had a role in rituals and stories, where it symbolized strength and mystery. Though the animals themselves had disappeared from sight, their spiritual presence continued to influence Balinese beliefs. In this way, the tiger lived on in memory, even as the species itself faded into extinction.
Despite the tiger’s importance in Balinese culture, no real efforts emerged to protect it. Unlike other animals that received attention before their extinction, the Bali tiger’s decline went largely unheeded. The colonial government, focused on expanding agriculture and industry, showed little interest in preserving the island’s wildlife. No reserves were set aside, and no efforts were made to breed the tigers in captivity. The species disappeared without the international awareness or conservation efforts that surrounded other endangered animals of the time.
Today, the only remaining traces of the Bali tiger are a few specimens preserved in museums. A handful of skulls and pelts serve as the last physical reminders of a creature that once roamed the jungles of Bali. These remains are housed in European collections, far from the island where the tigers once thrived. The extinction of the Bali tiger, unlike more publicized cases, occurred quietly, without the recognition or outcry that other animals received when they faced extinction.
