Home / English Column / Environment / Environment -- What's New Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Park: Tiger Cub Boom Not Great News
Adjust font size:

The Siberian Tiger Park in the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is expecting about 100 new cubs this year.

 

The media coverage will be widespread, said Wang Ligang, the park manager, who seemed less than enthusiastic about the new arrivals on account of the financial burden they'll put on the park.

 

"More cubs means more mouths to feed," he complained.

 

The park, which contains only Siberian tigers, is the world's biggest artificial breeding base for the rare species.

 

About a quarter of the park's 200 females of fertile age are expected to bring the total number of tigers there to more than 700.

 

The fast increase has obviously made the 144-hectare park's compounds more crowded and rendered its facilities inadequate.

 

Wang said that the fast increase is partly due to a change in the tigers' fertility habits.

 

"Those living in the wild will not mate again before their cubs are 2 years old; however, an artificially raised tiger could give birth twice in a year," Wang said.

 

An adult tiger consumes about 10 kilos of beef a day, plus some milk powder and eggs, at a cost of about 120 yuan (US$15). Feeding cubs generally costs half that amount.

 

Ticket sales, the park's chief source of income alongside some government funding, bring in a little more than 10 million yuan (US$1.25 million) a year. The park lost 3 million yuan (US$375,000) last year, when about 100 cubs were also born.

 

"We have always been in a tight situation, and no change is foreseeable," Wang said.

 

The more than 600 tigers are currently crowding into more than 100 accommodations, with many resting outdoors.

 

The park also leases its tigers to zoos around the country and last year invited the public to "adopt" and name a tiger in exchange for a donation.

 

"But that is just a drop in the bucket, and it is mainly aimed at raising people's awareness of tiger protection," Wang said.

 

Each year, the park applies for money from the government, but Tao Jin, section chief of the Animal and Plants Management Department of the Heilongjiang Forestry Department, declined to disclose the sum the park applied for this year.

 

However, it is an open secret that the park has a huge treasure in its freezers the bones and fur of dead tigers, the number of which, Wang said, has surpassed 100 since the park was established in 1986.

 

China, having signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in 1981, promised to ban the sale of any part of the Siberian tiger as well as other endangered species.

 

"We can do nothing with them at present except spend more to preserve them," Wang said.

 

Liu Dan, chief engineer of the park, hoped the convention would become a little "less strict."

 

"We could sell the tigers' remains to some animal organizations for scientific education, and for wine in which their bones have been infused (for medicinal value)."

 

The park is conducting DNA tests to optimize mating in the future, Liu said.

 

Ma Yiqing, a veteran researcher with the Harbin Natural Resources Institute, said the convention is too restrictive. "It is right to curb illegal hunting," he said, "but it needs to be a little flexible now.

 

"If we don't even have enough money to feed artificially raised tigers, how can you protect the wild ones?"

 

(China Daily May 25, 2006)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read

Related Stories
2 Siberian Tigers On Their Way to S. Korea
Siberian Tiger Cubs Receive Wilderness Training
Zimbabwe to Receive Four Siberian Tigers from China
Number of Siberian Tigers in Captivity Exceeds 500 in China
Siberian Tigers Holding Their Own in Russian Wilderness
Tiger Spotting in the Snow
 
SiteMap | About Us | RSS | Newsletter | Feedback
SEARCH THIS SITE
Copyright ? China.org.cn. All Rights Reserved ????E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-88828000 京ICP證 040089號
主站蜘蛛池模板: 老司机在线精品视频| 男人都懂的网址在线看片| 美女一级一级毛片| 在免费jizzjizz在线播| 中国speakingathome宾馆学生 | 欧美深夜福利视频| 国产乱人伦Av在线无码| 99ri精品国产亚洲| 日本特黄在线观看免费| 亚洲av网址在线观看| 精品一区二区三区影院在线午夜| 国产乱女乱子视频在线播放| 黄色网站在线观看视频| 国产精品99久久久久久猫咪| 337p日本欧洲亚洲大胆艺术| 成人亚洲综合天堂| 久久久久久国产精品三级| 欧美成人免费全部| 吃奶摸下激烈免费视频免费| jizzjizz护士| 小雪老师又嫩又紧的| 久久99精品久久久久久清纯| 日韩国产精品欧美一区二区| 亚洲av无码一区二区三区不卡| 欧美叉叉叉BBB网站| 免费高清在线爱做视频| 国产一区二区精品久久凹凸| 国产精品另类激情久久久免费 | 色吊丝免费观看网站| 国产午夜无码精品免费看动漫 | 国产精品成人无码视频| 丁香六月纪婷婷激情综合| 校花主动掀开内裤给我玩| 亚洲欧洲成人精品香蕉网| 精品国产精品久久一区免费式| 国产一区二区三区免费在线视频 | 天堂√在线中文最新版8| 久久久久亚洲av综合波多野结衣| 欧美成人性视频播放| 亚洲最大视频网| 欧美日韩国产另类在线观看|