I refer to the article headlined 'Big cats and the bigger questions' (October 9), about the South China tiger.
The founder of Save China's Tigers (SCT) is Ms Quan, not Ms Li, and she was born in the Year of the Tiger which makes her 41, not 43.
You incorrectly state that we pay the Chinese government US$100,000 per year and 'in return, the government authorised the supply of cubs from Chinese zoos'. In fact, the US$100,000 per year that we pay to the Chinese Wildlife Research and Development Centre is earmarked for restoration of the Chinese habitat for the tiger. It helps finance a joint project between SCT and the centre to restore agricultural land to wild habitat suitable for South China tigers.
Your article suggests that our project to 're-wild' tigers is backed solely by 'a slew of luminaries' yet 'many scientists question [its] viability'. In fact, a number of prominent scientists support the principles of our project. For example, Gary Koehler, the research scientist from the US Fish and Wildlife Service who completed the first survey of the South China tiger in 1990, has written: 'I commend and applaud your efforts to conserve the South China tiger. I believe that there is a chance to save the tiger in the wild areas of China. With the determination and commitment that was demonstrated in constructing the Great Wall, and perhaps new strategies in conservation, I believe [this] can be accomplished.'
We hope and believe that scientific and public opinion will judge the project a success when free-roaming South China tigers are returned to their restored natural habitat in China.
DAVID LEIBOWITZ, legal adviser to Save China's Tigers, Johannesburg