中国老虎流年不利?

The just-started Year of the Tiger is already looking inauspicious for the species.

Chinese state media reported that over the past three months 11 rare Siberian tigers starved to death in a zoo that was having financial problems.

The poorly-performing zoo, the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in northeastern Liaoning province, had been trying to auction off the animals and hadn't paid staff, according to reports. In November, two other tigers were killed by police after the hungry tigers tried to maul their handlers. Some 30 other animals have also died in the zoo in the past months, state media said.

There are less than a few thousand wild tigers left in the world, and only some 300 of the even more endangered Siberian tigers.

Tigers have long been prized for their skins, organs and bones which are held to have special curative powers according to traditional Chinese medicine. China has joined international bans on tiger trade, but has resisted efforts to close several tiger farms that have raised thousands of tigers.

This grim tally comes soon after news that the first wild Siberian tiger cub in at least 20 years was killed just two days after it was discovered.