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Man Saving Endangered Tigers
Without Huang Gongqing's efforts, the endangered South China Tiger in Suzhou might have become disappeared, as the number of tigers is far fewer than the number of Giant Pandas.
Thin, fair and clean in appearance, Huang speaks in a gentle manner. The 64 year old man, has bred 70 South China tigers over the past 18 years, and 37 have survived, the highest survival rate in the world.
"The South China Tiger is China's pride," Huang said.
The tiger is native only to China and has been listed as one of the 10 most endangered animals on the earth by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
"So far, only 57 South China tigers are alive in captivity in the world, and fewer than 20 are living in the forests in southern China," Huang said. "They are even fewer than the Giant Panda," he added.
Huang began to artificially breed the species in 1983. "The tigers are facing the fate of extinction, largely because of humans. We must save them!" Huang said.
With Huang's efforts, the Suzhou Zoo where he worked as the chief veterinarian introduced South China tigers for breeding from zoos in Nanchang, Chongqing and Guangzhou to explore ways of reviving the species.
Huang is a keen observer of the tigers. He has kept close contact with the tigers he has bred, taking care of their illnesses, mating, pregnancy, delivery and cub-breeding.
The tigers also regard Huang as their best friend and greet him by wagging their tails when he comes close to the animals.
Huang once stayed for over 20 days caring for a mother tiger's delivery, even missing the Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year.
After giving birth, the mother tiger became reluctant to breed the cubs. Huang took back the cubs home and fed the little animals himself, which Huang's neighbors thought were kittens.
The South China Tiger is an antisocial animal and likes to stay alone. Huang performed lots of experiments and tried to promote successful mating between the animals. Having failed many times, he found that the best mating time was at night, hereby increasing the rate of pregnancy.
On the basis of research, Huang delayed the tigers' mating age till they were four years old so they were stronger than they were at three, the natural maturity time for mating.
During a cold winter a female tiger, frightened in her delivery, refused to suckle the four newborn tigers. Huang had to borrow an incubator from the hospital and bought an electric radiator to help breed the cub tigers. Because the cubs had no milk Huang brought back an after-delivery dog to breed the cubs.
Later Huang's wife suffered micrencephalon atrophy. Huang had to rush about between the zoo and his home to look after his wife and as well as his tigers, until his wife died.
Although Huang should have retired in terms of his age, he continued his efforts to save the tigers. At his suggestion and supported by the local government, the four-ha Suzhou Shihu South China Tiger-Breeding Base, the largest of its kind in the country, was founded in 1999. The base currently has 13 South China tigers, the largest breeding community of the animal in the world.
"I hope more and more people will care about South China tigers, making the next generations able to see the tigers in the future," Huang said.
South China Tiger
According to a "Red List" compiled by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 1996, fewer than 6,000 wild tigers exist in Asia and eastern Russia, compared with 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.
All existing subspecies of tigers are at risk, most notably the South China tiger, with fewer than 80, the Siberian tiger down to below 200, and the Bengal tiger, fewer than 4,000.
So far, only 57 South China tigers are alive in captivity in the world, and none of the animals have been captured alive over the past 40 years. Experts believe that fewer than 20 wild tigers of the subspecies live in the forests in south China.
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