Farmer says he’ll find rare tiger to clear his name
Print Edition
A FARMER jailed for accepting reward money after faking photos of a South China tiger says he’s determined to clear his name.
Zhou Zhenglong even said he would kill the animal and put it on display if he came across it again to prove he was right.
However, the responsibility for its death would be on the shoulders of his doubters, he told the Legal Evening News.
Zhou, of Zhenping County in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, yesterday asked the Supreme People’s Court to review the verdict that sent him to prison. He is also planning to publish new photographs of tiger tracks.
“It’s a good thing that I want to protect South China tigers. I never asked for a penny from others. I didn’t fake photos. But I was convicted of fraud after I was rewarded with 20,000 yuan,” he said.
He said he would dedicate his life to finding a South China tiger. “I will prove my innocence,” he added.
In October 2007, Zhou claimed to have taken photographs of a South China tiger, a sub-species many believe to be extinct, in the woods near his village. The Shaanxi Forestry Department awarded him 20,000 yuan (US$3,200).
However, doubts were raised after investigators found an old poster at his home showing a tiger that looked remarkably similar to the one said to have been photographed by Zhou.
In June 2008, it was determined that the photos had been faked and, in November, he was sentenced to a suspended two-and-a-half year jail term.
However, in May 2010, the court canceled probation for a failure to cooperate with the authorities and he served two years before his release in April 2012.
Zhou told the newspaper the poster, key evidence that led to his conviction, had been planted at his home by someone who wanted to frame him.
He has renewed his search for the tiger, heading to the mountains with friends several times a month. “We can often photograph tiger pawprints, which prove that the tiger does exist,” Zhou said.
Liu Liyuan, vice professor of the Life Sciences School at Beijing Normal University, has been with Zhou on his tiger hunts. He told the newspaper the latest photographs were genuine. “It was obvious that the pawprints on the photos were left by a tiger,” he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
