(Sumatra, Indonesia)—Scientists have announced the discovery of what they believe to be a new subspecies of Panthera tigris, living on one of the islands of Indonesia. Dubbed the “rainbow tiger,” it lives in the high cloud forest of Sumatra. It is unknown whether they exist on other islands.
Scientists have spent the last 18 months searching for this variation of the largest cat, long told of in local folklore. After searching the jungle for months, they got their first prolonged look at one as it entered the grounds of the monastery where they set up their base station.
“We’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dutch head researcher Hans van Drunen. “Our working hypothesis for the strange coloration is that it is an adaption to the cloud forest environment. Rainbows are prevalent there, and this would provide an excellent camouflage. It has nearly all the colors of the rainbow, except, for some reason, green.”