South China Tiger is extinct in the wild ?

[GuateGojira]

Is the South China tiger extinct in the wild? Yes, there are no more wild tigers of this subspecies/variety in China.

There is hope to save them? Also yes, the Save China's Tigers program is doing good in South Africa and those now-wild tigers are even larger than they captive brothers. Still, if the idea of Dr Kitchener is correct (no subspecies, just clinal differences), the South China tigers in Africa could benefit with new genes from wild Indochinese tigers, assuming that there are still tigers over there. The last census estimated less than 1300 in the entire region (2010) and probably the number in these days is less. .

The Malayan tigers are not as bad as we could think, there is a population of about 400 to 500 specimens according with the last estimation (2010) and Malaysia seems to be compromised to conserve them.

In Sumatra, the situation is difficult, and the conflict is considered "normal" which is a big problem for conservation. Last numbers (about 300 in 2010) reveals that this population, the last of the Sunda tigers, is greatly endangered, more than any other tiger population in the wild.

Tiger conservation is hard and will take a great deal of time, money and effort to revert the current situation. At this moment, only India-Nepal and Russia have hopes in the long therm, but many of the Indian populations will survive ONLY if they are interconnected. "Islands" like Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh and Sariska, among others, will not survive if they are not interconnected with other tiger reserves.
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