China Siberian tiger park sees 105 births in 2014

Two Siberian tigers get up close and personal at the Siberian Tiger Park in Heilongjiang, Mar 12, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

?This year, 105 Siberian tiger cubs, one of the world's most endangered animals, were born at a tiger park in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, the park said on Sunday.

Over the past decade, the Siberian Tiger Park, the world's largest Siberian tiger breeding and field training center, began planned breeding of tigers to protect strong genes among the species' population.

"The number of artificially bred Siberian tigers in the park is not 'the more the better'," said Liu Dan, chief engineer of the park. "We have been strictly controlling their population to ensure the quality of the species."

More than 1,000 Siberian tigers live at the park. They have all undergone DNA tests to prevent "intermarriage" among them and wildness training has made them more efficient predators, Liu said.

Siberian tigers are among the world's 10 most endangered species and mostly live in northeast China and eastern Russia.

China established the Siberian Tiger Park in 1986 with only eight Siberian tigers.