The Javan tiger was a Panthera tigris sondaica population native to the Indonesian island of Java.

It used to inhabit most of Java, but its natural habitat decreased continuously due to conversion for agricultural land use and infrastructure.

Based on these cranial differences, the Javan tiger was proposed to be assigned to a distinct species, with the taxonomic name Panthera sondaica.

The killing of tigers increased at the beginning of the 20th century when 28 million people lived in Java and the production of rice was insufficient to adequately supply the growing human population.

[12] Until the mid-1960s, tigers survived in three protected areas that had been established during the 1920s to 1930s: Leuweng Sancang Nature Reserve, Ujung Kulon, and Baluran National Parks.

The area was upgraded to a wildlife reserve in 1972, a small guard force was established, and four habitat management projects were initiated.

The reserve was severely disrupted by two large plantations in the major river valleys, occupying the most suitable habitat for the tiger and its prey.

[14] A subsequent survey was planned in Meru Betiri National Park in the autumn 1992 with the support of WWF Indonesia, deploying camera traps for the first time.

With support of the Sumatran Tiger Project, 12 park staff members were trained in autumn 1999 to set up camera traps and map their observations.

[20] In November 2008, an unidentified body of a female mountain hiker was found in Mount Merbabu National Park in Central Java, who allegedly died from a tiger attack.

[22] Following the October 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi, two Indonesian villagers claimed sightings of a big cat paw print in the residual ash, which sparked rumors that a tiger or leopard was roaming abandoned farms in search of food.

[24] However, it was later proven to be a hoax, and the photo was actually of a Bengal tiger taken at Taman Safari Prigen, a zoo located on the slope of Mount Arjuno.

[25] In August 2017, a wildlife ranger photographed an alleged Javan tiger in Ujung Kulon National Park.

[26] A reported sighting of a Javan tiger in 2019 near Cipendeuy village in the south of Sukabumi Regency reignited the debate over its possible survival.

A single hair found on a fence near the sighting location was thought to belong to the same group as zoological specimens of the Javan tiger by genetic analysis in 2024.