South China Tigers born

Kifaru Bwana said:
I am not sure which zoos are currently involved in the South China breeding programme. I know of old that the principal breeders have been Shanghai, Chongqing, Suzhou and Guangzhou zoos. All progeny from these zoos have been distributed to a further 13+ zoos in P.R. China and all are related and from just the 6 founders.

The source population for the South China Rewilding programme are the 4 zoos mentioned above, so their founders are not different to them. As for general fitness; the current group of breeding South China tigers only consists of those individuals capable of natural reproduction.
Whereas, admittedly enclosures in Chinese zoos are different to the concepts we are used to, some improvements have been made since 1995. The Shanghai Zoo f.i. has progressively replaced all South China tiger enclosures for naturally designed ones (somehow based on the open pit Hagenbeck style building).
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I've always found the South china tiger captive breeding programme very secretive, compared to the giant panda breeding programme. I am only aware of a few captive individuals who have bred succesfully in zoos. A tigress named Lele at the Shanghai zoo, has produced at least four litters during her lifetime so far. The father to many of her cubs was unfortunatly her brother Kangkang. Im not positive as to the wareabouts of any of these offspring :confused: If anyone else has any information on china's captive SCT breeding programme (tigers & their offspring/whereabouts etc:), it would be appreciated if you shared it :)

here's some links i found concerning previous captive breeding success:

South China Tiger Triplets Born in Shanghai Zoo

Tiger Cubs Born at Shanghai Zoo

Shanghai Star

CNN - Zoo keeper earns his stripes - April 8, 1999

shanghai
 
JonnyS18 said:
I've always found the South china tiger captive breeding programme very secretive, compared to the giant panda breeding programme.
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Agreed. They seem not to be anything like so high profile so it is not publicised the same way and seems to be difficult tto get reliable information. Also Western Zoos are not falling over themselves to try and obtain South china tigers so there is not the same level of interest....

Its good news that '327' is now mating with 'Cathay' as hopefully this will create a new line and a 2nd breeding male for the project. Even if all the cats originate from those six original founders, the more genetic divesity they can keep in the future, the better.

Interesting links about the breeding at Shanghai zoo.
 
I wonder what 'artificial breeding' means? Is it AI, or handrearing or both perhaps? (I often wonder why the Chinese resort to AI so much with the Giant Pandas too, when they have so many they can replicate natural mating conditions very easily)
 
Very true, im sure AI was a way of getting as many Giant Panda's born as possible, back when they were very rare in captivity: but these days there are many facilities in China that have more pandas than they can handle yet AI is still being used to ensure more cubs ASAP.

I read an article not too long ago saying that Chinese zoos were starting to create sperm banks for the South China Tiger, to ensure that specimins with the healthiest swimmers would be chosen to impregnate healthy females & (obviously) produce the healthiest offspring. Another advantage to this would of course be that in 20 years time the sperm from a male born in the present day, could be frozen & used to sire offspring in the future. Maybe this is what they mean by 'Artificial breeding'.?? If this is the case then its excellent for the future welfare of the species...
 
On a slightly different topic---does anyone know of a zoo that has more than 2 specimens of the extant 6 subspecies of tigers on display--do any have like Sumatrans,Amurs,Bengals and Malays all near each other.I would love to see the actual physical differences between the subspecies in the flesh so to speak.
I think I have seen a zoo or 2 online that listed 3 subspecies(one of which was a white tiger)
 
strngbuck42 said:
On a slightly different topic---does anyone know of a zoo that has more than 2 specimens of the extant 6 subspecies of tigers on display--do any have like Sumatrans,Amurs,Bengals and Malays all near each other.I would love to see the actual physical differences between the subspecies in the flesh so to speak.
I think I have seen a zoo or 2 online that listed 3 subspecies(one of which was a white tiger)
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Bronx has Malayan and Amur, but not in close proximity. Omaha has Amur, generic (white) and Malayan, and possibly Sumatran as well. Sedgwick County has Sumatran and Amur too, and they are displayed side-by-side in their new tiger exhibit.
 
These cats are among the species I'd like to see in Western zoos. Too bad there doesn't seem to be much interest in them from them.
 
I know =/, most zoos involved with breeding Endangered tigers tend to be concentrating on the Sumatran & Amur sub species which is great, but tragic for the South Chinese tigers. You would think more zoos would take an interest nowa days though, especially with the amur tiger being so numerous in captivity; but i guess western zoos cannot be completely to blame for not taking an interest. Chinese zoos are notoriously ''possesive'' (for lack of a better term) of their animals. Most animals that are sent to other zoos from China, are only on loan, & must return within an agreed amount of time, which can put pressure on zoos to breed their animals as quickly & as many times as possible in order to get the most out of their 'contract'.
 
Chinese possession

Didn't they do that with pandas also? Are they still restrictive with pandas?Some of you seem to think that the Chinese are now more 'flexible" on their giant panda supply
Thanks for all your feedback to my question:)
I checked the Omaha zoo web site and their facilities for big cats looks fab.Anyone been there?
Its great to find a chat area with people that share my interest in tigers(and other big cats).
 
I do not understand this conspiracy theory you folks are all hung up with. South China tigers have never been exhibited outside P.R. China after 1970, so given their average lifespan consequently no significant populations are outside the country. The breeding population of South China tigers has always been confined to the 4 zoos I mentioned earlier. Just because P.R. China is communist does not make it a dirty word, so grow out of that live in a box mentality please. The real reason is is that there has been a conscious effort by international organisations (IUCN, its CBSG and WWF) to concentrate all efforts inside P.R. of China. The SSP has greatly assisted more modern development and promotion of the South China Tiger captivebreeding programme. So, there .... :cool:

I just wish the Chinese were as careful with the conservation of exotic wildlife (inside and outside P.R. China's borders) as they are with giant panda, takin, snub-nosed monkey et cetera. Their record in E.Asian, Indian sub-continent and E. and S. African wildlife trade is not pretty and if it is not stopped soon, will lead to many species extinctions within the next 25-30 years. I will give you all that ... it is time P.R. of China come clean on their responsibilities in the international wildlife (parts) trade and consumption.
 
Great news! The Save China's Tigers organisation in South Africa has welcomed more new born cubs. As a bonus the newest cubs are the offspring of Tiger '327' (a first time father) who was thought not to be a successful breeding male. The mother is 'Cathay'.

It is unclear as to how many cubs there are & the gender, due to Cathay giving birth in her natural, wild surroundings, but i'll keep you updated :)

TigerLi Blog
 
Unfortunatly it seems that Cathay & 327's new cub has died due to harsh weather conditions and/or predation..

This morning Cathay seemed to have stopped suckling and spent most of her time away from her cub, while there was no complaining cries from her cub. Was the cub hit by hail? While I was prepared the worst, I was hoping for the best, that Vivienne was simply over concerned. We had to wait till this afternoon's feeding time to separate Cathay from her camp so we could go inside to check what become of the cub. We searched every corner - under the trees, inside the bushes etc but could see nothing. It suddenly occurred to me that the cub may have been taken by another animal, such as snake or predatory bird! From the way Vivienne described to me it sounded very much like this.

The bright side is that we have proven 327 can breed, and that in three weeks Cathay should have post-partum oestrus and will be able to mate again. Thankfully, Vivienne managed to take two photos of the cub on its first day, which become valuable record for the project!
 
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