South China Tiger spotted - October 15, 2007
See also: Tiger tales triple bill
Chinese news sources are reporting that the highly endangered South China Tiger has been seen in the wild for the first time in years (Xinhua, Huash). Nearly all the remaining tigers of this species are in captive breeding facilities and experts put the number of wild individuals at around 25 at most (BBC). Now photographs taken by a farmer appear to catch one of these on film, the first confirmed sighting in 30 years.
The Chinese news channels have a pretty impressive picture of the animal in question. Although there don’t appear to be official English versions of these stories there is a translation available. This says the tiger was snapped by Zhenglong Zhou, a villager from Zhenping County in Ankang City, Shaanxi Province.
This sighting is much more convincing than a photo of the Yangtze dolphin that was wheeled out after reports of that creature’s demise. Still, it is going to take more than this to convince that the tiger is out of the woods. On its own, one tiger is not very much use.
Image: USFWS
Comments
"On its own, one tiger is not very much use" - INCREDIBLE, who is this guy? One WILD critically -endangerd South China Tiger is priceless. For one thing, sighting a SC tiger after 30 years suggests that there are probably others. Since all the SC tigers in captivity are the genetically-weakened offspring of just 6 'founder' tigers - the potential DNA value to the genetic pool of just one wild tiger is incaluable. "Not much use"? Grrrrrrr.
Posted by: Gary Verstick | October 16, 2007 07:46 AM
the tiger's photo have been discussed,someone doubted it's truth,considering the tiger is painted a cardboard.
Posted by: Willams | October 16, 2007 04:03 PM
The South China tiger story has caused much controversy nationwide. Nearly 1/3 people on the web believe that the photos taken by the farmer Zhou are forgery and the whole thing is a hoax. The Tiger of Zhou, as someone puts it, is actually a "paper tiger" against the real background. See (http://bbs.people.com.cn/postDetail.do?boardId=1&view=2&id=3844643). I am sorry that the news spreads worldwide as if the real tiger is spotted after 30 years of extinction. Personally, I don't believe it. But does Nature?
Posted by: GQSHA | November 3, 2007 05:17 AM
Elaborate and detailed examinations of the recently spotted "wild South China Tiger" photos published by Chinese critics of the news story indicate that it was a hoax. No doubt about it. The latest photo shows Zhou, the officially decorated "tiger photographing hero", squatting down on the exact spot where the tiger was crouching on when found. Comparing the vegetation size in it and those on other photos with tiger images, one immediately realizes the big cat would have to be the size of a mouse to fit in! These outragaeous cheaters, and the whole world is taking the bait!
Posted by: Rattiger | November 5, 2007 05:48 PM
it is absurd
he claimed has taken 71 pictures of this tiger in 20 minutes with a same gesture on that afternoon. about 10 pictures are published now(all in a precisely same gesture, the tiger posed for pictures???)
the tiger color is differ from the surroundings.
differnt distance (5--20meters)with same tiger gusture
The peasant stalk and search,pictured it alone for about 20 minutes
the pictures are fake, most chinese people like me, believe it is a paper tiger with a size no bigger than a cat(according to the height and size of the trees and leave beside the tiger paper)
dear editor, We wish a fair and independent investigation, but the mass voice was neglected.
Why not investigate???
Posted by: dong | November 15, 2007 03:08 AM
It nearly comes to a definite conclusion that Zhou's tiger is false. The tiger is almost exactly copied from a picture on a new year calender. Chinese netizens in forums and on blogs did a splendid job in verifying the photos. But the local government still asserts the photos are true. The state forestry bureau refused to verify the photos in a recent announcement.
A big pity that still no evidence shows any South China tiger exists in wild.
refer:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/6304652.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/04/content_7199255.htm
Posted by: Qinqin Lv | December 5, 2007 01:48 PM