*Note: After Harry R. Caldwell's death, a journal was found in his house detailing his experience with and sighting of the supposed Maltese Tiger, as well as background information that Caldwell had researched. His journal was in extremely bad shape, so in order to share the information on his experience with the Cryptid, we, the authors of this website, have transferred all of the information from his Journal onto this page. All research and words are his own.*
June 15th 1910
My name is Harry R. Caldwell, and I am a Methodist missionry to Southern China. This morning I was hunting outside Fuzhou, China, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a very clear image of a large tiger that appeared to be deep shades of blue and Maltese. At first, I thought it was a man dressed in blue that was crouched on the ground. But I quickly realized that what I saw was the tiger's huge head above what I thought was the crouching man, which ended up being the chest and belly of the Maltese tiger. When I raised my gun to shoot the mysterious creature, there were children in the way, and by the time I changed positions, it had vanished. I was very discouraged that I was not able to capture the tiger. Later that day, I went around to the villagers in the area and asked them if they had ever seen this mysteriously coloured tiger. They confirmed that they had seen the "black devils" roaming around on multiple occasions.
June 21st 1910
I have become very fascinated by Crpytozoology, and the Matlese tiger. I have begun to research information on the Maltese tiger, starting with the basics. This tiger is a subspecies of the South China tiger, so the majority of traits and behaviours of the two tigers will be the same. Based on background knowledge of Taxonomy, I have classified the Maltese tiger as:
Domain: Eukaryota (It is a living organism that is not Archaebacteria or Eubacteria).
Kingdom: Animalia (It is an animal with eukarytotic cells that do not contain cell walls).
Phylum: Chordata (It has a skull and backbone).
Class: Mammalia (It has fur and is warm-blooded).
Order: Carnivora (It eats the same things as the South China tiger, like deer, plant-eaters, etc).
Family: Felidae (It is a large cat, like the South China tiger).
Genus: Panthera (It is a large cat that can roar, like the South China tiger).
Species: Caeruleus (Blue in latin is Caeruleus).
The scientific name of the Maltese Tiger would be Panthera caeruleus.
July 3rd 1910
Because the Maltese Tiger is a subspecies of the South China tiger, I believe that some possible relatives of the Maltese tiger could be the Bengal tiger, the Lion, the Jaguar, the Leopard, and of course, the South China tiger. The typical diet of the Maltese tiger (based off of the South China tiger) includes fresh meat like deer, and wild boar. However, if the area the tiger is in is not well-populated by those animals, the tiger will eat rodents, insects, small birds, etc. It also eats monkeys, avets, porcupines, fish, frogs, crabs, monitor lizards and snakes. It obtains its food by hunting. It does not hunt in packs because it is an independent animal and prefers to hunt alone. Below is a basic food web of the Maltese Tiger that I drew based off of the eating habits of the South China tiger.
June 15th 1910
My name is Harry R. Caldwell, and I am a Methodist missionry to Southern China. This morning I was hunting outside Fuzhou, China, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a very clear image of a large tiger that appeared to be deep shades of blue and Maltese. At first, I thought it was a man dressed in blue that was crouched on the ground. But I quickly realized that what I saw was the tiger's huge head above what I thought was the crouching man, which ended up being the chest and belly of the Maltese tiger. When I raised my gun to shoot the mysterious creature, there were children in the way, and by the time I changed positions, it had vanished. I was very discouraged that I was not able to capture the tiger. Later that day, I went around to the villagers in the area and asked them if they had ever seen this mysteriously coloured tiger. They confirmed that they had seen the "black devils" roaming around on multiple occasions.
June 21st 1910
I have become very fascinated by Crpytozoology, and the Matlese tiger. I have begun to research information on the Maltese tiger, starting with the basics. This tiger is a subspecies of the South China tiger, so the majority of traits and behaviours of the two tigers will be the same. Based on background knowledge of Taxonomy, I have classified the Maltese tiger as:
Domain: Eukaryota (It is a living organism that is not Archaebacteria or Eubacteria).
Kingdom: Animalia (It is an animal with eukarytotic cells that do not contain cell walls).
Phylum: Chordata (It has a skull and backbone).
Class: Mammalia (It has fur and is warm-blooded).
Order: Carnivora (It eats the same things as the South China tiger, like deer, plant-eaters, etc).
Family: Felidae (It is a large cat, like the South China tiger).
Genus: Panthera (It is a large cat that can roar, like the South China tiger).
Species: Caeruleus (Blue in latin is Caeruleus).
The scientific name of the Maltese Tiger would be Panthera caeruleus.
July 3rd 1910
Because the Maltese Tiger is a subspecies of the South China tiger, I believe that some possible relatives of the Maltese tiger could be the Bengal tiger, the Lion, the Jaguar, the Leopard, and of course, the South China tiger. The typical diet of the Maltese tiger (based off of the South China tiger) includes fresh meat like deer, and wild boar. However, if the area the tiger is in is not well-populated by those animals, the tiger will eat rodents, insects, small birds, etc. It also eats monkeys, avets, porcupines, fish, frogs, crabs, monitor lizards and snakes. It obtains its food by hunting. It does not hunt in packs because it is an independent animal and prefers to hunt alone. Below is a basic food web of the Maltese Tiger that I drew based off of the eating habits of the South China tiger.
July 12th 1910
I believe that the possible habitat of the Maltese tiger could be in dense jungles where they have access to prey, and water to drink and play in. In this habitat, possible competitors of the Maltese tiger could be all types of tigers because they all prefer the same habitat, and generally prey on the same things.
South China tigers and mammals in general reproduce sexually, so the Maltese tiger would reproduce sexually as well.
July 20th 1910
If the Maltese tiger were found, I think it would affect our preservation of ecological diversity because the tiger would depend on the same things that other species in its family do, so there would possibly be a shortage of food for both the Maltese tiger and the other large cats. Species diversity would increase because if the Maltese tiger became a species, that would mean that an entirely new species was in the ecosystem. Also, Genetic diversity would increase because a new tiger species would be added into the Panthera genus.
July 26 1910
Based on my sighting and research of the Maltese tiger, I do believe in the existence of this creature. Because the blue-gray (Maltese) colouring is caused by a mutated gene of the South China tiger, I think it is very possible that this could occur. Even though there are no actual photos, skins/fur, or footprints found of the Maltese tiger, I happened to see it with my own eyes, which would be very hard to ignore and say that this creature does not exist.
I believe that the possible habitat of the Maltese tiger could be in dense jungles where they have access to prey, and water to drink and play in. In this habitat, possible competitors of the Maltese tiger could be all types of tigers because they all prefer the same habitat, and generally prey on the same things.
South China tigers and mammals in general reproduce sexually, so the Maltese tiger would reproduce sexually as well.
July 20th 1910
If the Maltese tiger were found, I think it would affect our preservation of ecological diversity because the tiger would depend on the same things that other species in its family do, so there would possibly be a shortage of food for both the Maltese tiger and the other large cats. Species diversity would increase because if the Maltese tiger became a species, that would mean that an entirely new species was in the ecosystem. Also, Genetic diversity would increase because a new tiger species would be added into the Panthera genus.
July 26 1910
Based on my sighting and research of the Maltese tiger, I do believe in the existence of this creature. Because the blue-gray (Maltese) colouring is caused by a mutated gene of the South China tiger, I think it is very possible that this could occur. Even though there are no actual photos, skins/fur, or footprints found of the Maltese tiger, I happened to see it with my own eyes, which would be very hard to ignore and say that this creature does not exist.