It may be the Year of the Tiger but unfortunately, in China, 2010 hasn’t been an especially good year for tigers at all.

In recent months there have been various reports of tigers starving to death in national parks around China. Two of the highest profile tiger reserves in the country – the Northern Forest Zoo in Harbin and the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Northeast China – have collectively reported 25 tiger deaths due to malnutrition.

Traditionally hunted for use in traditional Chinese medicine, the government banned the killing of tigers for medicinal purposes back in 1993. Unfortunately, this well-meaning legislation has had adverse effects for China’s captive tiger population. Previously, many of China’s 12 tiger parks would sell a few tigers to poachers every year, which provided substantial income that went towards food and medical treatment for the remaining animals. Now, without this extra money, many of the parks have seen their income drop to dangerous levels, with tourist profits not bringing in enough cash to sustain parks' running costs.

It is estimated that each tiger eats the equivalent of USD 9 (RMB 60) in food per day and with parks reaching populations of up to 1,500 tigers, this equals roughly USD 5 million (RMB 34 million) a year, just in food costs. Due to budget restraints, many of the parks have had to cut back on food; with some unable to feed their animals for weeks at a time. Many employees have also gone without pay because there is no money for wages. Tiger parks estimate that the ban on trading tigers for medicinal use has costs them an average of USD 266 million (RMB 1.8 billion) per year.

Though the future of China's tiger parks appears dismal, a new initiative is providing hope for some of the country's captive tiger population. The Minnesota Zoo, China's State Forestry Administration (SFA) and environmental agency, International Consultancy Europe (ICE), have combined to reintroduce the South China tiger, the rarest of the world's five surviving subspecies, back into the wild. The project has raised USD 3 million to restore a 250,000-acre natural habitat on the borders of Hubei and Hunan provinces, which will be populated with deer for the animals to hunt and eat.

Ron Tilson is the director of conservation at Minnesota Zoo, he calls the current situation of keeping tigers in tourist parks “a failed strategy” and says that it's in the best interests of Beijing to do what they can to save the South China tiger. "China is an economic juggernaut, a military powerhouse,” he says. “As part of that portfolio they need to bring back the icon of Asian wilderness. And that's the tiger."

Captive tigers have never before been released into the wild, and the undertaking is further complicated by the fact that the 67 South China tigers (currently housed in different parks and zoos around the country) which will form the backbone of the plan are all descended from six animals originally captured decades ago.

Enfeebled by decades of inbreeding, Tilson says genes from tigers outside of China will have to be introduced if future generations have any hope of surviving in the wild. It will be another decade before pregnant tigers are introduced into their natural habitat where, despite being bred in captivity, the mothers will teach their young how to hunt and kill prey. "This ability is hardwired," Tilson says. "They don't lose it."

There is a long road yet to travel, but Tilson hopes that the next time the Year of the Tiger rolls around, the outlook for tigers in China will be much brighter and that this project will revolutionise Chinese attitudes in regards to endangered species. "China is at a tipping point in its conservation history," he says.