Tiger cubs sent off to hunting school

Hong Kong, Sept 01: Two Chinese tiger cubs have set off on a 12,000 km (7,000 mile) journey to South Africa where animal experts will teach them how to hunt.

The pair of South China tigers named Cathay and Hope will travel from a cramped enclosure at Shanghai Zoo to a 500-hectare (1,235-acre) reserve in South Africa.

"There's room for them to move there. But the goal is to bring them back to China, where they have lived for millions of years," Li Quan, founder of the Save China's Tigers Foundation, told reporters while the animals transitted through Hong Kong airport on Monday.

Quan said there were experts in South Africa with experience in teaching big cats born in captivity how to survive in the wild.
She said big cats would instinctively chase food but needed to be taught how to kill it.

The Chinese government says fewer than 30 South China tigers survive in the wild and a further 60 live in zoos.

Tigers, which are found only in Asia, are disappearing because of the destruction of their natural habitat and because of demand for products such as tiger penis, believed in parts of Asia to enhance sexual potency.

The foundation hopes to transport another five to seven tiger cubs to South Africa over the next five years and then introduce them and any offspring into a specially created reserve in southern China from 2008.