Rare animals
Rare animals
Rare Chinese tiger seen in the wild
Researchers have confirmed that a wild tiger, photographed by a farmer in the Qinba
Mountains of Shaanxi Province, Central China, is indeed that of the critically endangered
South China tiger.
The South China tiger classified as one of only five subspecies of tiger still alive today is
extremely rare, with only an estimated 20 to 30 still remaining in the wild.
The wildlife and conservation group WWF says the South China tiger is actually native to the
Hainan most forests of south-east
China, and because there are so few
individuals left, it is regarded by many
scientists as being "functionally
extinct" in the wild.
But a group called Save China's Tigers
has been working on a captive-
breeding programme and hopes to
reach an agreement with China's State
Forestry Administration to reintroduce
captive-bred animals into the wild. If
all goes...