Endangered tigers get RFID implants
01 June, 2009
category: RFID
As part of a government effort to protect endangered species, three Manchurian tigers at the King Palace Zoo in China’s central Henan province recently received RFID implants. Each tag is encoded with the tiger’s vital statistics, including name, age, gender, species, birth place, blood type and DNA information, to assist in the tracking and care of the animals.
The tags were designed by the State Forestry Administration, the agency which last year called on all Chinese zoos to implant the chips in their collections of 17 dwindling species. In addition to the Manchurian tigers, pandas, golden monkeys, and some species of cranes and swans made the list for implantation. There are no more than 30 of the tigers, a species native to northern China, left in the wild.
The one-centimeter tags were injected beneath the skin of the tiger’s neck.
To read more, and watch a video of the procedure, click here.
