SOUTH CHINA TIGER
Panthera tigris amoyensis

The South China tiger is the most critically endangered of all
tiger subspecies. Found in central and eastern China, it is
estimated that at most only 20-30 South China tigers still
exist in the wild. Currently 47 South China tigers live in 18
zoos, all in China. The South China tiger is one of the
smallest tiger subspecies. Male tigers measure about 2.5
meters (8 feet) from head to tail and weigh approximately
150 kilograms (330 pounds). Female tigers are smaller,
measuring about 2.3 meters (7 1/2 feet) 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 Siberian tigers.




Wild Tigers: China

China is unique among tiger range countries because four of the surviving tiger subspecies at one time
lived within its borders: the Amur (Siberian) tiger in the far northeast bordering Russia and North
Korea; the South China tiger (which is considered the evolutionary antecedent of all tigers) in the
central parts of China; and the Indochinese and Bengal tigers in the far south bordering Vietnam, Lao
PDR, Myanmar, and Assam (India). The tiger is a favorite subject of Chinese artists, depicted as
fierce and powerful.

The current status of wild South China tigers is vague. Only
40 years ago there were reputed to be more than 4,000
tigers, but the government declared them pests, and they
were hunted mercilessly. A 1987 field survey by Chinese
scientists reported a few tigers remaining in the Guangdong
mountains bordering Hunan and Jiangxi, and another survey
in 1990 noted evidence of about a dozen tigers in 11
reserves in the remote mountains of Guangdong, Hunan, and
Fujian Provinces of South China. No tigers were seen. The
only evidence came from anecdotal stories of former hunters
(at least they claimed to have stopped hunting). An
unconfirmed report from the Ministry of Forestry in 1995 suggests that the wild population is fewer
than 20 individuals.

The current situation is that no wild tigers have been seen anywhere by Chinese officials for more
than 20 years. The Chinese Ministry of Forestry lists 21 reserves within the presumed range of the
tiger, and Chinese specialists believe between 20 and 30 tigers are still left in the wild. The last time a
wild tiger was seen in the wild was 10 years ago These facts suggest that the South China tiger is the
rarest of the five living tiger subspecies, the most threatened, and the closest to extinction.



Zoo Tigers

According to the 1995 South China Tiger Studbook the captive population of 48 South China tigers
is confined to 19 Chinese zoos. They are descended from only six wild-caught tigers (about 120
tigers descended from 30 wild-caught tigers would be closer to the ideal). The last time that a wild
tiger was brought into captivity was 20 years ago. The situation for the future does not look good.



Conservation Action

To counter these disturbing trends, China has made some valiant efforts. It joined CITES in 1981
and passed the Wild Animal Protection Law of the People's Republic of China in 1988. This year
the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens, under the Ministry of Construction, invited the
IUCN's Tiger GASP team to evaluate their tiger husbandry and medical management procedures, to
verify origin and parentage of each tiger, and to perform a population management analysis at a
masterplan workshop. Two significant outcomes were a South China Tiger Studbook and a South
China Tiger Masterplan. Additional plans are to meet with the Ministry of Forestry and to further
define the status and threats to wild populations using a computer-based landscape analysis (GIS)
and to draft an Action Plan on what might be done to secure wild tigers for the future.