Huang Zaiqiu, a 75-year-old tiger hunter is well known for his heroic and brave feats in south China's Fujian province when in the 1950s he killed three tigers.

The number of South China tigers in China has declined dramatically in the past few decades from 4,000 to some twenty or thirty living in highland reserves in Fujian, Hunan, Sichuan and Jiangxi provinces. Wild tigers have only been spotted periodically in recent years.

The South China tiger which resides in the Meihua mountains in Fujian was listed under national protection in 1988. Local officials invited Huang to come out of his hermetic existence in a forest and help as a tiger guide and share his knowledge and expertise on the tiger.

As soon as Huang learnt that the South China tiger was a protected species, he was shocked beyond comprehension. Huang comes from a long line of hunters and the thought of protecting a predator was unimaginable.

However, after working for a few years as a warden for The State Forestry Administration and the World Wildlife Fund, Huang gradually saw the tiger and the environment in a whole new light.

Huang takes every opportunity to educate his villagers with what he has learned from his research colleagues. His words are more understandable to local villagers than any pronouncements coming from the government because of his wealth of experience.

Huang was recently awarded by the local government as the "Best South China Tiger Protection Activist", which for Huang, sounds a lot more better than "heroical tiger hunter".

Despite his old age, Huang often walks several dozens kilometers of mountain road in his efforts to protect the tiger.

Huang is delighted that several hundreds of thousands yuan has been donated by the young people to set up a Wild Life Reserve Park in the Meihua Mountain.