The number of Siberian tigers at a northeast Chinese breeding base now exceeds 700, giving the seriously endangered species a new lease of life, state media said Sunday.
The population at the Siberian Tiger Park, near the city of Harbin, is up from 620 late last year, and a mere eight when the park began operations in 1986, the Xinhua news agency said.
The park has been able to speed up the natural breeding rate of the Siberian tigresses, about one cub every two years, to as much as two cubs a year, according to Xinhua.
The reason is that professional staff start tending to the cubs directly upon birth, giving the mothers time to return to the breeding business almost immediately, the agency said.
The animal, which is the largest of all tiger subspecies, was hunted nearly to extinction by the mid-20th century.
According to the World Conservation Union, the Siberian tiger, also known as the Amur tiger, remains "critically endangered," meaning it is considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
