News Lunch 2005-12-19 09: 02:11

South China Tiger is a unique tiger species in China, with only 72 tigers left at present. Due to inbreeding, the population quality is declining. How to keep this population going has become an urgent problem. At the international symposium on wild release of South China tigers hosted by the State Forestry Administration in Beijing, which ended on June 5438+08, the preliminary planning schemes of two candidate wild release experimental areas in Jiangxi and Hunan passed the expert review. Officials from the State Forestry Administration said that it will promote the progress of the South China Tiger rescue project and promote the reconstruction of domestic habitats, thus providing conditions for the protection of the South China Tiger population.

Question whether the wild South China tiger is really extinct?

At this seminar, when introducing the investigation of its wild population and habitat, foreign experts suggested that the wild South China tiger in China may have been extinct, which aroused many domestic experts' doubts.

According to Dr. Tilson, the last trail of the South China Tiger was found in 199 1. During the period from 2000 to 20001year 18 months, the South China Tiger was investigated in five provinces in eight regions of China, and no trace of the South China Tiger was found, nor was it found in the communication with local interviewees. They left the cattle on the mountain for seven months without being hunted.

According to Lu Jun, director of the office of the Wildlife Research Center of the State Forestry Administration, it takes 50 years to declare a species extinct, but now no one has found the South China tiger entity in the wild for nearly 20 years. However, there are indications that it is difficult to form a stable population of South China tigers in China.

Breeding "inbreeding" is not as good as hybridization.

Previously, in order to restore the South China tiger's wildness, China sent it abroad for wild training, but one of the South China tigers, Hope, died unfortunately, which once again caused domestic experts to think deeply about inbreeding. South African experts said in the introduction that "Hope" died unexpectedly because its heart was smaller than its peers and its immunity was lower.

Xie Zhong, deputy secretary-general of China Zoo Association, said that all South China tigers were bred from six kinds of animals captured in the wild before 1950s, and they have two lineages, namely, Shanghai and Guiyang. However, any breeding is inbreeding, because there is no new provenance involved. Now the inbreeding coefficient is as high as 0.49, which is close to selfing, which leads to the decrease of genetic diversity and immunity, and it is difficult for cubs to survive in winter.

She proposed three solutions: looking for tigers from the wild, but it is almost impossible at present; Using cloning technology, but it is not mature and reliable at present; There is really no choice but to introduce subspecies of similar tigers and keep some genes.

Professor Xu Yanchun from the Wildlife Testing Center of the State Forestry Administration also suggested that other tiger species should be introduced and their genes should be preserved through hybridization.

The way to rebuild the habitat of wild South China tiger

It is expected to be put into Liuyang and Zixi.

In order to return the South China tiger to the wild and improve its population quality, China is planning to establish a wild release area. According to the Army, in 2003 and 2004, experts were organized to visit Jiangxi, Fujian and Hunan three times.