Three more Chinese tiger cubs from the Shanghai Zoo have been scheduled to fly to a training camp in South Africa next month as another major move to protect and reintroduce this endangered species to the wild.

South China tigers, also known as Amoy tigers or Panthera tigris amoyensis are native to China, ranking among the world's top 10 species on the verge of extinction.

"We hate to hear from some foreign experts that South China tigers have disappeared from the wild in China, but we have yet to find any living trace of them, even though we have been trying," said Lu Jun, office director of the National Wildlife Research & Development Center under the State Forestry Administration.

There used to be over 4,000 tigers across most areas of the country only 40 years ago, but due to the irrecoverable depopulation campaign in the middle of the last century, now only 66 such tigers remain, all descendants of six tigers captured in 1956.

The existing tigers are never aggressive and all have become nearly as docile as domestic cats while encaged in a dozen zoos throughout China.

To protect this rare animal, China has set up 15 natural reservations with a total area of 550,000 hectares.

"Inbreeding has greatly deteriorated the purity of the species," said Pei Enle, deputy director of the Shanghai Zoo.

"It would be great news to find any South China tigers living in the wild," Pei said.

The zoo, crowned the largest breeder of South China tigers in the world, now has a total of nine tigers.

To reintroduce the species into the wild, the national center started a joint-program with Save China's Tigers-a foundation set up by tiger-lover surnamed Quan Li, by sending Cathay and Hope, two tiger cubs to South Africa last September.

The foundation, which covers all expenses of the reintroduction program, is promoting the campaign to save Chinese tigers throughout the world.

The three newly selected cubs, two males and one female, were born at the Shanghai Zoo in March and April respectively.

They were chosen due to their wholesome physical condition. They are expected to fly from Beijing on October 29 after finishing examinations and quarantine procedures to join two pioneering tigers there.

Progress has been made by the program, as the two older tigers have restored most of their savagery and can hunt wild animals by themselves at the base in Makopani, north of Pretoria, the capital of South Africa.

"South Africa is richly experienced in reintroducing big carnivores to the wild and has very good natural conditions to do so," Lu said. "We have tried in Meihuashan of Fujian Province, but it was not successful as there was not a complete eco-chain with adequate space."

These tigers, or their offspring which shoulder the responsibility to rejuvenate the breed, will return to the country in 2007 when their environment is ready.

Liuyang in the east of Hunan Province and Zixi in Jiangxi Province have been favored by Chinese and foreign experts after almost a year of investigation.

The two places, which will set aside an area of over 100 square kilometers respectively to serve as reservations for South China tigers, have been recommended to the central government.

To promote the social atmosphere of protecting the big cat, Chinese and overseas celebrities such as Jackie Chan have suggested using the South China tiger as the mascot for the Beijing Olympics.

(China Daily September 23, 2004)