South China tiger

Panthera tigris amoyensis (South China Tiger)

 The South China tiger was once found all over central and eastern China but is thought possibly to be extinct in the wild.

The South China tiger is one of the smallest tiger subspecies. It is the most critically endangered of all tiger subspecies. The current status of wild South China tigers is vague. Only 40 years ago there were reputed to be more than 4,000 tigers, but the government declared them pests, and they were hunted mercilessly.

In 1995 unconfirmed reports from the Chinese Ministry of Forestry suggests that the wild population is fewer than 20 individuals.The current situation is that no wild tigers have been seen anywhere by Chinese officials for more than 20 years.  The Ministry of Forestry lists 21 reserves within the presumed range of the tiger, and Chinese specialists believe between 20 and 30 tigers are still left in the wild. The last time a wild tiger was seen in the wild was in 1990.