Imagine an endangered tiger species without a proper home or the means to survive in the wild. 

Enter Chinese and foreign experts carefully examining two Chinese sites they hope may become perfect habitats for the South China Tiger.

And, if all goes well, with intervention from these caring humans, the animal will be trained to survive on its own in the wild.

But the "go-wild" plan for the tigers - now numbering just 20 to 80 animals in the wild - is being questioned by some wildlife experts who say that rebuilding their ruined habitat should be given top priority.

Nonetheless, with the support of the international organization, Save China's Tigers, two South China tiger cubs, a female and a male, were sent from the Shanghai Zoo to South Africa on September 1 for training that experts hope will enable them to hunt and live independently in the wild.

About five to 10 tigers will be sent to South Africa in the next five years, with the first batch of tigers returning at the same time as the Olympic Games, in 2008.

It is expected the trained tigers will live independently in the wild at the chosen habitats, and that self-sustaining South China Tiger clans will soon appear.

The South China Tiger, also called the China Tiger, is a unique species in the nation with the few in the wild supplemented by the 60 or so others living in captivity across the country in zoos or sanctuaries.

Some experts have warned that the tigers will die out altogether by 2010 if no measures are taken.

Both the examination of the two places and the move to send tigers to South Africa are part of a project to develop tigers in the wild.

The two places - Zixi County in east China's Jiangxi Province and Liuyang in central China's Hunan Province - are considered ecologically suitable habitats for South China Tigers, said Lu Jun with the Wildlife Research Center under the State Forestry Administration.

In addition to Zixi County and Liuyang, there are seven other candidates, according to Lu.

"Ecologically, Zixi and Liuyang are the best," he added, which quickly moved them to the top of the scientists' list.

The practice of sending two South China Tiger cubs to South Africa for the training, however, has drawn some skepticism among some animal experts.

Xie Yan, an expert with the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, argues the practice might turn out to be not worth a candle and called for more efforts in rebuilding sound ecosystems in the tigers' habitats.

And reproduction among zoo-bound tigers is poor due to all being offspring of the same six captured wild tigers, Xie said.

While admitting the practice is well intended, Xie argued that the most important thing now is protecting places where wild South China Tigers are found.

Currently such places are very rare in China because of human activities, she said.

South China Tiger conservation zones should be enlarged and the living standards of local residents should be improved so that their daily lives do not conflict with the tigers, she said.

Xie also says uncertainties exist about the eventual return of the trained tigers. For example, the tigers might fail to adapt to the their Chinese surroundings after they get used to South African terrain.

And the tigers will be so accustomed to human beings that it will be very possible that they will not stay in the mountains and away from human contact, Xie said.

Meanwhile, since the two cubs are from the Shanghai Zoo, their reproductivity will be poor and it will be hard for them to develop into a larger group of tigers, she said.

(China Daily March 2, 2004)