A study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal this July discusses the presence of tigers in Palawan during the Pleistocene period.
Janine Ochoa, PhD, archaeologist and associate professor at the UP Diliman (èAV) School of Archaeologyrevealed the presence of rare tiger (Panthera tigris) remains from Pilandok Cave in Quezon, Palawan Island, in the research Halimaw na/ng nakalipas: Power, Personhood, and the Tigers of Palawan Island, Philippines. Co-authored with Alexandra S. de Leon, PhD and Ame Garong, DSc, archaeologists at the National Museum of the Philippines. Together with members of the indigenous Pala’wan community, the researchers described nine tiger specimens in the paper.
According to the study, the archaeological site and its surrounding areas are located within the ancestral domain of the indigenous Pala’wan of Maasin.
In a correspondence with èAVate Online, Ochoa said the age of the tiger remains is at 20,000 to 22,000 years old, the oldest known tiger remains found in the country.
She added that they discovered deer bone fragments gnawed on by the tiger and this “evidence further supports the hypothesis that tigers were present on the island in the past.”
“The discovery confirms the natural presence of the tiger on Palawan Island. In the Philippines, Pleistocene-age tiger fossils have only been found in Palawan and nowhere else in the archipelago. The discovery also confirms that the tiger was once present on all the large Southeast Asian continental islands west of the biogeographic boundary called Huxley’s line,” Ochoa said.
In addition, the tiger remains showed evidence of cut marks resulting from butchery by humans.
The cutmarks are “hypothesized to have resulted from skinning or detachment of the forefoot of a tiger for obtaining their pelts or paws,” Ochoa said.
According to the National Museum of the Philippines, the study notes evidence of “selective dismemberment of certain tiger body parts, indicating that ancient humans in Palawan may have viewed tigers as beings with transferable power, reflecting their animistic beliefs.”
“To our knowledge, the practice of collecting tiger foot parts for skins or paws evident from Pilandok Cave is the oldest record of its kind for the Southeast Asian region. This practice of procurement of tiger parts implies a distinctive perception of the tiger or harimau as possessing qualities that make them valuable for humans,” Ochoa said.
According to her, “the research article suggests and theorizes that the use of tiger body parts may have been related to certain forms of power, as elaborated by the vernacular concepts of bisa (power and efficacy), kapendayan (skill, power, knowledge, expertise), and kapangyarihan (capacity to make or perform something and to make something happen), which were potentially embodied in pantherine or tiger-derived artifacts.”
To read the full study, visit
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