On November 23, 2007, in South Africa, the South Chinese tiger named Hulooo was born as part of a breeding program by the "South China Tigers" foundation. The intention is to eventually release the tigers into the wild in China. The foundation was established to prevent the South Chinese tiger from becoming extinct. Under Mao's rule, more than 3,000 South Chinese tigers were killed in the 1950s because they were considered a plague. Currently, there are about 30 South Chinese tigers left in the wild.

The entire tiger population is severely threatened worldwide. In the 1990s, there were still 100,000 tigers in Asia; by 2022, that number has dwindled to only between 2,600 and 3,900. The reasons for the decline include poaching for the trade in tiger products, habitat loss, and human-animal conflicts.