The chance of increasing the population of wild Manchurian tigers is currently low, according to the manager of China's major tiger breeding center.

 

"There are only 10 to 15 wild Manchurian tigers living in the northern provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin," said Wang Ligang, manager of the Heilongjiang Manchurian Tiger Artificial Breeding and Reproduction Base.

 

Damage to their natural habitat and excessive hunting have caused the decline of the wild Manchurian tiger population. Tiger bones used to be an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine recipes but their use was banned in 1993 in an effort to protect the species.

 

Heilongjiang Manchurian Tiger Artificial Breeding and Reproduction Base is the biggest artificial breeding base in the world, with more than 700 Manchurian tigers.

 

Four months ago, 15 Manchurian tiger cubs were chosen to train to adapt to the wild at Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province.

 

"The tigers we chose were all about two-years-old because it is when they learn to hunt," said Liu Dan, chief engineer of the Manchurian Tiger Artificial Breeding and Reproduction Base.

 

Cubs in the base had already received a year's training at the base and mastered basic survival abilities.

 

"Although the wild nature of the tigers has been recovered to a certain extent, they are still a long way off being free," said Wang.

 

The Manchurian tiger, which weighs up to 200 kilograms and is three meters from nose to tail, is listed by the World Wildlife Fund as one of the ten most endangered species in the world.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2006)