Losing Our Stripes?

There is recent sad news that the South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), a sub-species that is thought to be the ancestor of all tigers, is effectively extinct (http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/southchinatiger/southchinatiger.html ). Not only has the beast not been seen in the wild for more than 25 years but it has recently been demonstrated, using molecular techniques, that the 'South China tigers' maintained by captive breeding in China are actually hybrids.