THE DECLINE AND IMPENDING EXTINCTION OF THE SOUTH CHINA TIGER

The South China tiger Panthera tigris amoyensis is the rarest of the f ive living tiger subspecies, the most critically threatened and the cl osest to extinction. No wild South China tigers have been seen by offi cials for 25 years and one was last brought into captivity 27 years ag o. The 19 reserves listed by the Chinese Ministry of Forestry within t he presumed range of the tiger are spatially fragmented and most are t oo small to support viable tiger populations. Over the last 40 years w ild populations have declined from thousands to a scattered few. Despi te its plight and occasional anecdotal reports of sightings by local p eople, no intensive field study has been conducted on this tiger subsp ecies and its habitat. The captive population of about 50 tigers, deri ved from six wild-caught founders, is genetically impoverished with lo w reproductive output. Given the size and fragmentation of potential t iger habitat, saving what remains of the captive population may be the only option left to prevent extinction of this tiger subspecies, and even this option is becoming increasingly less probable. This precario us dilemma demands that conservation priorities be re-evaluated and ac tion taken immediately to decide if recovery of the wild population wi ll be possible.