HUGE and fierce Tibetan mastiffs are the latest status symbol in China and breeders are rolling in money. Tycoons, gangsters and movie stars want puppies.

After Li Yongfu amassed a fortune in the aluminum industry, he decided to start a new business: a Tibetan mastiff breeding farm in Langfang, a small city on the southeast outskirts of Beijing.

His farm is home to 30 mastiffs and his top dog, a three-year-old that he bought for 8 million yuan (US$1.3 million) from a breeder in Anhui Province, is worth twice the price he paid.

Niuliu stands 76cm tall and weighs 75 kilograms. He eats quality beef and occasionally rare caterpillar fungus that is twice as expensive as gold and is believed to be a tonic and panacea.

A stud session with Niuliu can cost more than 100,000 yuan, and breeders around China are eager for his pups. Earlier this year, a pup of Niuliu's was sold for a record 15 million yuan.

While top puppies - which account for about 10 percent of total newborn dogs - are almost always bought by breeders, the others are often sold as pets or guardians for the country's nouveau riche.

When Li opened the multi-billion yuan Liangjian Mastiff Breeding Farm earlier this year, he learned the dogs had become a status symbol for China's new rich, whose wealth is spreading beyond real estate and luxury cars.

"If you are rich, you can easily buy a big house or a Lamborghini," he says. "But owning a purebred mastiff is quite another thing. It's solid evidence of your wealth, power and taste, and makes a most presentable gift for your clients and partners."

The lion-like animal is considered a symbol of fortune. A purebred can be brown, black or black with brown markings. But reddish brown is the most coveted color, because the Chinese believe red is auspicious.

At Li's farm, passersby are warned to admire the dogs from afar because they're hostile to strangers - a good trait for guardians of sheep flocks and horses on the Tibetan plateau.

Cases of Tibetan mastiff pets attacking family members, visitors and passersby are occasionally reported in Chinese cities and often lead to serious injuries and even deaths. In several cases, police have been forced to shoot ferocious dogs.

The shaggy, lion-like mastiffs are native to southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and neighboring Qinghai Province. They're known for their loyal, protective, but fierce disposition. In the West, they're often bred for less-aggressive temperament but in China ferocity is prized.

Cool pets

The breed, widely used as shepherds and watchdogs by Tibetan herders, has become popular in the interior since the 1990s, but only recently have many people been able to afford them

"Mastiff owners often fall into three groups: business tycoons, gang leaders and movie stars," says Li.

China has 1,926 A-class purebred Tibetan mastiffs bred at 308 registered breeding centers, according to the China Animal Agriculture Association's National Kennel Club (CNKC).

Fifty-two of the breeding centers are located on the outskirts of Beijing, and many are run by avid dog lovers.

Retired track coach Ma Junren was fascinated with mastiffs while training female distance runners on the Tibetan plateau in the late 1980s. He now owns some of China's best-known and most expensive purebred mastiffs and is chairman of a Tibetan mastiff club.

Two years ago, Beijing resident Ren Liyong brought two mastiff pups back from a trip to Qinghai. In four months, his pets became so big and scary that called police whenever they saw them.

Ren was forced to move the dogs to the countryside and eventually built a mastiff farm with 17 dogs, mostly from Qinghai's Yushu County.

In two months, his seven males have earned 1 million yuan in stud fees.

Rags-to-riches stories are often told among mastiff breeders. Tseten Tashi was a penniless herder in Yushu when he swapped a goat and saddle for a mastiff from a monastery in 2004. The purebred was later crowned "king mastiff" and earned several billion yuan.

"His success has inspired many herders to raise mastiffs. Today, mastiff farms are seen everywhere in Yushu," says Megar, president of Yushu's mastiff-breeding association.

Yushu is one of China's major mastiff-breeding bases, in addition to Tibet's Tsomey and Nagchu counties. Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans are employed in the industry that burgeoned in the 1990s.

Last year, the industry generated about 100 million yuan in revenue, mainly in the mastiff trade and breeding services.

Going global

The booming Tibetan mastiff trade has been a boon for related industries, including feed, medical equipment manufacturing, mastiff shows, exhibitions and forums, and production of audio and video programs designed to promote the plateau dogs.

Beijing businessman Wang Haoming opened a portal website in 2009 to share information on mastiff breeding and trading with breeders across the nation.

"We are doing business in Beijing, Xining, Dalian, Ji'nan, Taiyuan and Shenzhen," says Wang, chief executive of 315hn.com. "We will soon launch the overseas edition of our website, now that many overseas breeders are becoming interested in raising mastiffs."

Mastiff breeder Yan Liyong receives potential foreign customers from almost every year. "Most customers admire the pedigree and we plan to tap overseas markets, particularly Germany, Spain and Russia."

At least 100 Tibetan mastiffs are sold to Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States annually, says Zhang Xiaofeng, deputy director of the CNKC.

"But dog husbandry is a fledgling industry in China and we need to ensure its sound and sustained development to gain international recognition," he says.

As a first step, he says China needs to keep pace with international standards in terms of dog breeding, promotion and marketing.

He says the Ministry of Agriculture has issued a set of industry standards for Tibetan Mastiff breeding. These standards cover breeder qualifications, dog registration and health assessment criteria.

Meanwhile, the China Animal Agriculture Association has worked out regulations on mastiff clubs and exhibitions.

Looming risks

While a growing number of dog lovers and breeders see mastiff breeding as a gold mine, industry insiders have warned of risks for breeders, dealers and buyers.

"The 'dog bubble' may one day burst," warns Zhou Yi, secretary-general of the Qinghai Tibetan Mastiff Association.

According to Zhou, Qinghai Province is home to more than 20,000 mastiff breeders. "Only one percent of the dogs are top pedigree and the legendary cash cows that can fetch over one million yuan."

As a result, 80 percent of the top dogs rely on inbreeding, he says. "This is neither normal nor rational, and may threaten the species' very existence in the long run."

Though Chinese scholars have researched Tibetan mastiffs and their pedigree, there is a lack of international recognition and cooperation, says Ding Limin, a professor with China Agricultural University's school of animal science and technology.

"Many farms lack scientific breeding skills," he says.

If nothing is done to regulate the industry and preserve the pedigree, Zhou says he expects a major downturn in a year or two, when about 60 percent of farms will close.

"If that happens, the Tibetan herders who are hoping to build their fortunes on mastiffs will suffer the most."