The Tiger

In 1997 a study was conducted on the decline and impending extinction of the South China tiger. The conclusion of the scientists was indeed very black and depressing. The scientists concluded that no wild South China tiger had been seen by officials in the wild for 25 years. The last one to be brought into captivity at that time was 27 years earlier. Some more black news was that the 19 reserves listed by the Chinese Ministry of Forestry included habitat which was and is fragmented. The fragmented sections were too small to support a viable tiger population. The reserves were useless in terms of tiger conservation. They stated that "over the last 40 years wild populations have declined from thousands to a scattered a few". They also confirmed that there were some occasional sightings of tigers in China but apparently no "intensive field study" had been conducted on the South China tiger and its habitat. At that time the captive population of tigers was 50. The South...

How can we reintroduce captive South China tigers into the wild in China, if as a Chinese expert says, the captive South China tigers are not purebred. They are hybrids; no longer a subspecies of tiger but a "generic" tiger. If the expert is correct, the game is over and the South China tiger has been persecuted to extinction. Let's get used to it and get over it. This post came to mind because the Feline Conservation Federation magazine mentions that at the last convention, the keynote speaker, Li Quan, spoke of her "brave and unique" crusade to rewild the South China tiger. There is a webpage on this subject . Can someone enlighten me on this? Clearly Li Quan believes that this subspecies of tiger still exists. Even if it does what chance of the tiger surviving in the wild in China? I am not optimistic about that considering it would be extremely rare and desirable...cut up for the medicine market.

I have said that the South China tiger subspecies ( Panthera tigris amoyensis ) is totally extinct - captive or wild . That may be a rash statement but it is based on sensible thought and real information. As at 2002, on the publication of the Sunquist's renown Wild Cats Of The World , of the five-remaining subspecies of the tiger (I say it's four now) the South China tiger was the most endangered. Tiger farm - Photo by International Tiger Coalition The decline in population was rapid at the end. In 1949 it was thought that there were 4,000 individuals. However, this fantastic animal was "declared a pest" and mercilessly persecuted. I can understand one aspect of this. The tiger is hard to live with because it is a very large and a potentially dangerous animal. Humankind has great difficulty sharing the planet with it. But the main reason for its decline is Chinese medicine. Please note that I am not being judgemental. I am simply describing what has gone o...