The Last Tiger in East Java: Symbolic Continuity in Ecological Change

The present paper examines beliefs about tigers in East Java, Indonesia. There, as elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the tiger serves as a symbol, functioning especially as a complement to shamans and ancestral spirits. The tiger also acts as a symbol of nature, though not of uncontrolled nature - the animal guards the order of both the jungle and the village, and serves as an agent of the supernatural beings that own the forest. The Javan tiger's numbers have declined drastically in the face of ecological change, to the point where it is doubtful that any still remain. The tiger is very much alive as a symbol, however; this aspect of the creature has adapted to its new situation far better than the animal itself. At present the role of tiger-as-symbol has changed, so that now it guards not only nature but the Islamic faith as well. With the disappearance of the actual tiger, the panther has come to take over many of the roles once held by the larger cat. This shift has been facilitated by the fact that both animals occupy the same linguistic category.