Saving Chinese Tigers In South Africa

Moving Them To A New Continent May Help Save Endangered Species Of Big Cats

(CBS)  Tiger Woods — the tiger, not the golfer — is a pretty impressive cat. He's huge and he's only 2 years old, CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports.

This Tiger Woods — and his famously named pals Madonna and Cathay — are all South China tigers, the most endangered species of big cats in the world today. Li Quan is breaking all the rules of conservation to try to save their dying breed

"If we don't do anything drastic, they may go extinct forever," she says.

Li's "drastic" plan is to take the zoo-raised animals from Asia and put them in an environment in Africa where they can learn to be wild again.

When Li saw the poor conditions in which the tigers were living in China five years ago, she devoted herself full time to the cause.

Li launched an ambitious dream to save the Asian tiger in South Africa, where no tigers exist in the wild.

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Only On The Web: More with Li Quan, founder of Save China's Tigers

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Moving wild animals is always a risky business, especially when you bring them halfway across the world. But this project has attracted particularly strong criticism from some cat experts who say there are too few South China tigers left and too many risks to be gambling with the future of an entire species.

The tigers' chief handler, Peter Openshaw, had his doubts at first. But he now believes the open spaces and wildlife expertise in South Africa can save these tigers.

Openshaw initially had to hunt for them. After spending their lives in a zoo, these tigers had never even eaten wild meat and thought the dead animal was a "toy."

Now, when Openshaw drops a carcass in a field and blows his whistle, within seconds, the tigers rush across the grasslands, ready to pounce. After three years, Tiger Woods and the others are successfully able to hunt for themselves.

"The end goal of this project is actually to reintroduce the Chinese tigers back to where they came from. That means the Chinese wild," Li says.

Getting to the Chinese wild via South Africa may be a roundabout way, but to Li Quan, it's better than no way at all.

[kirkules]

I respect this woman, Li Quan, and her efforts to save these magnificent animals. Cats are fascinating creatures and it cannot be forgotten that they can be dangerous too.

[gail31654]

When I saw this story on the news last night I felt the same way. I commend Lara for all of her reporting from Iraq but am glad she is keeping herself out of harms way for now at least.

[pribilof-2009]

I am personally over joyed to see Lara Logan went home instead of going back to the War Zone! Thank you CBS and welcome home Lara Logan!!