South China Tiger
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| Panthera tigris amoyensis (Hilzheimer, 1905) |
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 South China Tiger range
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The South China Tiger or South Chinese Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), also known as the Chinese, Amoy, or Xiamen tiger, is a subspecies of tiger native to the forests of Southern China. The South China tiger is the second smallest and most critically endangered of the living tiger subspecies. Experts maintain that there are approximately 20-30 of these tigers left in the wild. A total of 68 South China tigers exist in captivity in 19 zoos in China and one reserve in South Africa. The South China tiger is considered to be the “stem” tiger, the subspecies from which all other tigers evolved.
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[edit] Physical characteristics
The South China tiger is one of the smallest tiger subspecies. Male tigers measure about 2.5 m (8 ft) from head to tail and weight approximately 150 kg (330 lb). Female tigers are smaller, measuring about 2.3 m (7 1/2 ft) long. They weigh approximately 110 kilograms (240 pounds). The short, broad stripes of the South China tiger are spaced far apart compared to those of Bengal and Amur tigers.
[edit] Habitat
The South China tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis, was formerly abundant in South China's temperate upland forests. Today its wide range has been reduced to three isolated areas in south-central China, wherein small and scattered populations are said to persist along the mountainous borders between provinces. As with the black-footed ferret, one of the biggest contributing factors to the South China tigers' dwindling population is the destruction of its prey base. Two other major factors that have contributed to the tiger’s decline are poaching and population fragmentation.
[edit] Prey
Like other tiger subspecies, the South China tiger primarily hunts ungulates. The South China Tiger prefers prey ranging between 30-400 lbs., but will accept smaller or larger prey such as elk and deer and wild boar.
[edit] Persecution and extinction
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the South China tiger was distributed in many parts of southern china. In 1959 Mao Zedong, in the time of the Great Leap Forward, declared the tiger and other predators such as leopards and wolves to be pests and "enemies of the people". Becoming widely persecuted, the population of the South China Tiger fell from 4,000 to 200 by 1976. The Chinese government then reversed the classification of the tiger, banning hunting altogether in 1977, but this seems to have been too late. The South China Tiger has not been seen in the wild since the 1980s. Today the estimated population of the South Chinese subspecies comprises 20-30 individuals and is found only in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi und Zhejiang. Tigers still found in south-east China belong to the Indochinese Tiger subspecies.
[edit] Conservation
Since 1990, China’s State Forestry Administration has been leading the effort to save the South China Tiger through the establishment of special Nature Reserves for the 20-30 Chinese tigers thought to be left in the wild. China's few captive tigers are now part of a centrally registered studbook in an attempt to save this tiger from becoming the fourth tiger subspecies to become extinct in modern times. Before a studbook was established it was thought that this captive population was too small and lacking in genetic diversity for any re-population program to be successful, but since the start of the central register more and more South China Tigers have been identified in zoos across China fueling hope of the possible re-establishment of the South China Tiger in the wild.
The organisation Save China's Tigers working with the Wildlife Research Centre of the State Forestry Administration of China and the Chinese Tigers South Africa Trust secured an agreement on the reintroduction of Chinese Tigers into the wild. The agreement, which was signed in Beijing on 26 November 2002, calls for the establishment of a Chinese Tiger Conservation model through the creation of a Pilot Reserve in China where indigenous wildlife including the South China Tiger will be reintroduced. A number of Chinese tige cubs will be selected from zoo's in China and sent to a 300 square kilometre reserve near the town of Philippolis in South Africa where they will be taught to hunt for themselves. A second Chinese tiger rehabilitaion project is also being run in Fujian, China. It is planned that in time, successfully rehabilitated South China Tigers will be released into a Pilot Reserve in China. China will conduct the work of surveying land, restoring habitat and prey with in the Pilot reserve. The first Chinese Tigers are expected to be reintroduced into the wild to coincide with the Beijing Olympic Games in 20082.
[edit] References
- Qiu-Hong Wan et al.:Use of oligonucleotide fingerprinting and faecal DNA in identifying the distribution of the Chinese tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis Hilzheimer). Biodiversity and Conservation, Springer Netherlands, Volume 12, Number 8 / August, 2003.
[edit] Weblinks
- tijgeritorum Everything you want to know about tigers!!!
- IUCN Red List
- Save China's Tigers South China Tiger conservation charity, info on the South African rewilding program and reintroduction to protected habitat in China
