Chinese tigers fly to Africa for wilderness training ( 2003-09-02 11:29) (People.com)
Two Chinese Tigers born in captivity flew to South Africa on Monday from the
Capital International Airport in Beijing to learn how to live in the wild in
Africa.
Born in the Shanghai Zoo early this year, they are the first Chinese Tigers
to go to Africa. The female is named "Guotai", or peaceful country, and the male
is called "Xiwang", or hope.
The training is part of an agreement signed last year by the State Forestry
Administration (SFA), London-based Save China's Tigers, and Chinese Tigers South
Africa of South Africa.
According to the schedule, they will arrive in Pretoria, the capital of South
Africa on Tuesday, via Hong Kong. After two weeksof quarantine at the National
Zoo, they will be sent to a 500-hectare wild zone called Makopani north of the
capital. There three experts will teach them wilderness survival skills, such as
finding their own food.
The Chinese Tiger (panthera tigris amoyensis), from which othersub-species
such as the Siberian Tiger evolved, is a critically endangered tiger sub-species
native to south China. It is listed as one of the world's ten most endangered
animals.
Today, fewer than 30 Chinese Tigers remain in the wild while about 60 survive
in Chinese zoos. Some experts from other countries predicted that they would
disappear by 2010 if they are not well protected.
China has not sufficiently grasped how to train its tigers, which has held
back the conservation and sustainable development of Chinese Tigers, said Lu
Jun, a researcher of the SFA.
An experimental reserve covering over 100 sq. km. will be set up in China for
the Chinese Tigers, and natural vegetation and other animal groups will be
restored within the reserve, accordingto the agreement.
The selection of the reserve will begin in October in south China, said Quan
Li, an offcial of Save China's Tigers.
All the Chinese Tigers that finish the training will be sent tothe reserve.
The first trainees are expected to be reintroduced into the wild in 2008,
coinciding with the Olympic Games in Beijing.
China should learn from South Africa, which has had a successful experience
in combining wildlife protection with socialand economic development, said an
official with the wildlife protection department of the SFA.
The zone in South Africa is said to have successfully trained some Siberian
Tigers to live in the wild.