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SCMP Reporter

THEY are a pathetic sight - - 69 of the most majestic beasts on earth languishing in cages in the middle of China's northern wilderness, waiting to die.

 They are Siberian tigers, the biggest, strongest and rarest of their species, condemned to spend their short lives in four-metre-square concrete compounds.

  Evolution did not design them to be pitied, yet that is all one feels for them.

  The animals are being bred in captivity so they can be slaughtered at the age of two or three for their body parts, which are believed to be powerful aphrodisiacs.

  Welcome to the Breeding Centre of Felid, in Heilongjiang near the Russian border. It is a bizarre commercial venture set up to perform two functions - maintain the tigers' numbers and compete with the poachers who butcher wild tigers to satisfy the profitable markets in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

  The illegal trade still flourishes, especially in Taiwan, where live tigers have been killed in public markets.

  But this experiment with nature has gone horribly wrong. These tigers, which can weigh up to 350 kilograms, now face an agonising death through starvation.

  Behind this turnabout is new wildlife legislation, which China has been pressured into signing by the international community, and which dictates the tigers can no longer be used for their intended purpose.

  China signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) legislation, which banned cross-border trade, in 1989, but only in May this year did it agree to a domestic ban after the US threatened Beijing with trade sanctions.

  Now the 69 tigers can no longer be killed.

  Within days of the tigers losing their commercial value on the domestic and international markets, China's banks terminated all further funding to the farm.

  Today, despite the efforts of the centre's director, Liu Xinchen, to personally guarantee further loans, is the day the money runs out.

  This leaves Mr Liu wondering where the tigers' next meal is coming from.

  Most of the tigers at the farm look healthy, as they have been fed up to 10 kg of raw beef a day, but there is nothing for them to do except sleep, pace up and down their cages or respond to the teasing from visitors with spits and hisses.

  Now they face greater hardship. Even Mr Liu accepted it was unlikely Beijing would cover either the centre's huge overdraft or provide the financial commitment of almost $3 million a year to cover the upkeep of the farm.

  ''If we don't get the money from the government then the tigers will starve to death,'' the director said. ''I don't think they will give us two million yuan (HK$2.64 million) each year, but perhaps they will give us 25 per cent of that.

  ''Half a million yuan will only keep all the tigers alive for about four months, or 15 tigers alive for a whole year.

  ''By law I cannot kill the others, so I would have to watch them starve to death. That would be too emotional for me. I appeal to the people of Hong Kong, Britain and other Western countries to help us.''   The farm has been waiting for more than a month for a decision from the authorities in Beijing as to whether the government is prepared to bail it out.

  This would entail providing the annual funding and making arrangements with the banks to cover debts of more than $14 million incurred by the tiger farm during its seven-year history.

  Now, in a desperate and controversial move that will almost certainly be fought by the conservation movement, the director has asked the Chinese Government to lift the CITES ban on the sale of tiger parts.

  The farm has already culled 26 tigers, which it claims were diseased, and stored their complete skeletons in a deep-freeze. This means the farm has large stocks, but no market and no money.

  Having bred sufficient numbers, the intention was to kill more tigers and start making a profit this year.

  ''There has been a lot of fake material on the market recently, and the government wanted to wait for it to go,'' Mr Liu said. ''It wanted to control the market before letting us sell the real thing, that's why we haven't made any money.

  ''We are asking the CITES office if we can be allowed to sell some of our stock both in China and on the international market.

  ''It would be done in a controlled way. We have to ask the other CITES countries if they will agree. That way we can make some money.''   The 26 tigers the centre has in deep freeze could be worth up to six million yuan and would go a long way towards covering the centre's costs.

  The original plan was to cull 10 tigers a year with a potential minimum value on the world markets - particularly Hong Kong, Taiwan and America's big Chinatowns - of between one and two million yuan.

  Once profits had been maximised the farm should quickly have become self-sufficient.

  When the Sunday Morning Post visited the farm, we were initially told only two of the culled tigers were males.

  As the tiger penis is the most valuable body part, such a male to female ratio would be extraordinary. The number was later revised to nine males, but only two penises could be produced.

  The Sunday Morning Post has learned a separate pharmaceutical sister company has been set up in Shenzhen to produce a range of tiger pills and potions.

  It is a joint venture between the farm - Mr Liu is vice-general manager of the venture - and a consortium of Hong Kong businessmen whom he declined to identify. Bone samples have already been sent to the Products Profitable to Health company, and sample products produced.

  ''The factory has been built specially and was doing some work, but now we've been stopped from selling the products no one is there,'' Mr Liu said. ''We sent some bone pieces by post to Shenzhen, which is close to the main markets of Hong Kong and Taiwan.''   Commentators were astounded when the mainland agreed to implement the internal ban, making its wildlife laws tighter than even some Western countries, while others linked the move to Beijing's bid for the 2000 Olympics.

  However, the legislation has only been approved by China's State Council and has yet to be ratified by the People's Congress, leaving opportunity for the decision to be reversed.

  One of six sections reads: ''The import and export of rhinoceros horn and tiger bone . . . are strictly prohibited. No institution or individual shall be allowed to transport, carry or mail rhinoceros horn and tiger bone in to or out of China.''   The Siberian tiger is the rarest large mammal in the world, with only a few dozen believed left in China's wild, so the 69 cannot even be legally culled.

  The centre's original breeding stock, of less than 10 tigers, including two from the New World circus in the UK and one from Amsterdam zoo, was provided by the Chinese Government.

  All other costs were borne by the centre's parent company, the Native and Animal Product Import and Export Company of Heilongjiang, which in turn was funded by the banks.

  Western conservation groups' reaction to the request seeking to break the CITES ban is not likely to be favourably received.

  The British-based Tiger Trust conservation group has been instrumental in persuading the United States and Britain to exert pressure on China to stop its domestic trade in tiger products.

  Michael Day, Tiger Trust's founder, said angrily: ''The proposal is outrageous and I for one will make damn sure it doesn't go through.

  ''This breeding farm has nothing whatsoever to do with conservation and never has been.

  ''Conservation has been used as a front for a purely commercial, agricultural venture to make as much money as possible. The whole thing stinks.

  ''Despite the repugnant nature of farming wild animals to slaughter and strip them of their bones to manufacture allegedly useless medicines, captive breeding of tigers might only serve to provide a raw material that would perpetuate an outdated myth andfoster a new, young generation believing in tiger bone as a modern remedy.''   Despite his misgivings, however, Mr Day is considering providing some kind of assistance to give the tigers a better living environment. This may include fencing off a wild mountain area to the rear of the farm.

  The director of the farm and its publicity material proclaim that its primary function is to conserve as many Siberian tigers as possible by, among other methods, accelerated breeding.

  This involves the removal of a mother's cubs at a young age, which are then either given to another female tiger to care for or raised by hand, which then allows the first mother to come into oestrus again and produce a second litter.

  The idea was then to gradually release all or some of the tigers back into the wild, a concept that has been totally discredited by wildlife experts.

  ''The idea is totally impossible,'' said Mr Day. ''They have done absolutely no research or field work into the area [into which] they are suggesting releasing the tigers.

  ''The food available for them is extremely limited and each animal would need a huge area in which to hunt, something they are probably not even capable of doing anymore, anyway.

  ''The tigers have now completely lost their fear of man, and once they become hungry or crazy enough, they will become man-eaters.''   What the trust does THE Tiger Trust is a UK-registered international, non profit-making charity dedicated to the conservation in the wild and the welfare in captivity of all endangered species, particularly tigers. To find out more, or to make an immediate donation, write to:The Tiger Trust, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8TN, UK.



The Shame of China's tiger trap