On November 23, 2007, the South Chinese tiger named Hulooo was born in South Africa 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 3000 South Chinese tigers were killed in the 1950s because they were considered a plague. Currently, about 30 South Chinese tigers still live in the wild.

The entire tiger population is seriously threatened worldwide. In the 1990s, there were still 100,000 tigers in Asia; by 2022, there are only between 2600 and 3900 left. The reasons for the decline are poaching of the animals for the trade in tiger products, loss of habitat, and human-animal conflicts.