The controversial south China tiger photographs by farmer Zhou
Zhenglong were proved fake, according to sources at a press conference
of the Shanxi Provincial government on Sunday.

争议了很久的中国华南虎照时间，最近被证实是假的。相关当事人被逮捕。

Zhou, a 53-year-old from the Zhenping county of Shaanxi who claimed to
have photographed the tiger with a digital camera on the afternoon of
Oct. 3 last year, was suspected of swindle and arrested. His reward,
20,000 yuan (2,915 U.S. dollars) by the Provincial Forestry Department,
was revoked.

Zhou’s tiger photos, first published on Oct. 12, had been used by
the Provincial Forestry Department as proof that the rare tiger still
existed in the wild at a press conference.

But Internet users accused Zhou of making the tiger images with
digital software, and local authorities of approving the photos to
bolster tourism.

The tiger is considered critically endangered, mainly due to a loss
of habitat. By 1996, the tigers numbered only 30 to 80, according to
the World Conservation Union’s Red List of threatened species.

(The content from Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2008)