A Tiger, in Africa?
As fans of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" surely know, there are no tigers in Africa. Or there weren't, until Li Quan, a Chinese-born former Gucci exec, moved four captive South China tigers to the Laohu Valley Reserve in South Africa for "re-wilding." One of those tigers, Hope, died last year (how poignant is that?); now three remain, learning to survive by hunting antelope on the African veld in the hopes that they can one day be reintroduced to the Chinese wilderness the species evolved in.
A century ago, as many as 50,000 Chinese tigers roamed the wild. Today, the number is fewer than 50. More survive in zoos.
The controversial effort in South Africa is part of a campaign Ms. Quan started called Save China's Tigers. As the Christian Science Monitor reports, some critics say she is overreaching, a dilettante 'playing conservationist,' but Quan defends the last-ditch effort. "We're at the end of the road with these animals. We can't simply say, 'Let's write them off.' We have the responsibility to try something."
What do you think? Is Ms. Quan overreaching or do desperate times call for desperate measures?
4 Comments:
Desperate times, desperate measures! Would Hope have died in China anyway? Probably. Africa may not be "right," but at least it's a chance!
I agree. It may not be a perfect solution, but at least it's an attempt. Maybe there's more to the story, but it seems better to try and fail than just give up. If the other groups have better ideas, they should share them with Ms. Quan.
Have we learned nothing from historical transplant botches (starlings in the New World, rabbits in Australia, african honey bees in South America...)? I work in a field that promotes and supports conservation and preservation of natural environments, but this could result in a disasterous environmental impact, as well as subsequent dilution of the species - lions and tigers have interbred in captive situations (tigons and ligurs, such as Noel, Tippi Hedren's tiger/lion cross at Shambala). The answer is to work within the native country's politics to establish preserves which provide employment to local peoples and initiate substantial
tourist income.
Also, how will it impact the indiginous carnivores, i.e. the Cheetah, which is extremely endangered from lack of territory and competition with the native lion population already.
This "desperate measure" is well-intentioned to be sure, but ecologically irresponsible in the light of our past mistakes.
The only suitable land left which can support the large territory re-quirements of the Tiger is in the vast areas of Africa. Each reserve is carefully monitored for a balance in apex predators, and there is certainly space available for establishing parks where the Tiger would be the apex predator & would not be in competition with lions or cheetahs. And in reply to the hazards of species introduction to nonnative habitats, the slow reproduction and high infant mortality of the Tiger would prohibit the "pest" outcome cited by anonymous. Tiger ancestry did inhabit the continent. There will never be adequate land available in Asia to bring back a thriving population unless the human species were to be reduced by about 50%. So it has been delayed far too long, but better late than never.
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