China's largest tiger-breeding center in southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday sent more than 50 endangered tigers by train to Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province.
Most of the tigers are less than a year old, with only two being trained adults. It's part of the center's bid to move 100 tigers to Nanjing, where another tiger-breeding center for eastern China will be established to better protect wildlife, reported xinhuanet.com.
The breeding center will send another 40 or so tigers to Nanjing by May 1.
Officials of the Guilin center said early last year they conceived the idea to move some of their tigers to Nanjing, where they would have a "more-spacious home."
Zhou Weisen, an official of the breeding center, said they may release some of the tigers bred in captivity back into their natural habitat at an appropriate time.
The 500,000-square-meter center, established in 1997 with an investment of 300 million yuan (US$36 million), has since bred more than 200 tigers of rare species with a survival rate of 93 percent. The center also breeds black bears and lions.
(eastday.com April 18, 2002)
