A rare Chinese tiger brought to South Africa to learn how to hunt has died, dealing a fresh blow to efforts to save the species from extinction.

Born in a Chinese zoo, "Hope" was sent to South Africa as a cub with his mate "Cathay" in 2003 for a pioneering experiment seen by some as the last chance to preserve the species — a "rewilding program" to encourage the animals to hunt on their own.

"Hope had an infection and he stopped eating meat. He died on Saturday evening," Li Quan, the founder of the "Save China's Tigers" foundation, told Reuters on Monday.

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