Threatened Species Threatened Habitat

South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)

The South China Tiger is a subspecies of tiger that is native to the forests of Southern China. It is considered to be the “stem” tiger, the subspecies from which all other tigers descended and has recently been listed as one of the world's top 10 most endangered animals. According to experts there are only 30 left in the wild and it might become extinct within the next decade.

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. (The South China tiger, 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, where small and scattered populations are said to persist along the mountainous borders between provinces.)

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the South China tiger was distributed in many parts of southern and eastern 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”; as a result, several “anti-pest” campaigns started. The wild population of the South China tiger fell from more than 4,000 to less than 200 by 1982. The Chinese government then reversed the classification of the tiger, banning hunting altogether in 1977, but it was too late - the South China tiger has not been seen in the wild for more than 20 years.

TBC....