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Tiger farce ends
By Wang Xiang |
April 28, 2010, Wednesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
CHINA'S forestry authority ended a farce started by a farmer and his fake photos of a supposedly extinct wild tiger, which sparked a nationwide debate three years ago.
The Ministry of Forestry said the South China tiger Zhou Zhenglong had supposedly photographed could not possibly live in Zhengping County, Shaanxi Province, where Zhou claimed he ran into the tiger in 2007.
The ministry quoted a team of wildlife experts, which they sent to examine the case in November 2007, saying the environment around Zhengping "could not support any tiger," People's Daily reported today.
The belated pronouncements rekindled interest in the Zhou case. The photos were long ago proven fake and Zhou was given a suspended jail term for fraud in November 2008.
The former hunter was found guilty of faking the photos to get a reward set by the Shaanxi forestry department in 2007.
The case grabbed people's attention for three years because the local government insisted on backing Zhou that the photos were real.
The Shaanxi Forestry Department gave Zhou 20,000 yuan for the photos and hyped the news to highlight its ability to preserve rare animals. The photos were hailed as the long-missing evidence of the South China tiger's existence in Shaanxi.
But Internet users found the photos were actually shoddy Photoshop work based on a tiger picture from an old calendar.
The case ended with 14 Shaanxi forestry officials being reprimanded and Zhou's reward confiscated.
But Zhou again raised the issue this February, insisting he was innocent and asking for a retrial.
Zhou told reporters he had seen a tiger again in the same area but couldn't get photographs as his camera battery had died, according to a former report.
It has been 24 years since a South China tiger has been seen on Chinese soil.
The Ministry of Forestry said the South China tiger Zhou Zhenglong had supposedly photographed could not possibly live in Zhengping County, Shaanxi Province, where Zhou claimed he ran into the tiger in 2007.
The ministry quoted a team of wildlife experts, which they sent to examine the case in November 2007, saying the environment around Zhengping "could not support any tiger," People's Daily reported today.
The belated pronouncements rekindled interest in the Zhou case. The photos were long ago proven fake and Zhou was given a suspended jail term for fraud in November 2008.
The former hunter was found guilty of faking the photos to get a reward set by the Shaanxi forestry department in 2007.
The case grabbed people's attention for three years because the local government insisted on backing Zhou that the photos were real.
The Shaanxi Forestry Department gave Zhou 20,000 yuan for the photos and hyped the news to highlight its ability to preserve rare animals. The photos were hailed as the long-missing evidence of the South China tiger's existence in Shaanxi.
But Internet users found the photos were actually shoddy Photoshop work based on a tiger picture from an old calendar.
The case ended with 14 Shaanxi forestry officials being reprimanded and Zhou's reward confiscated.
But Zhou again raised the issue this February, insisting he was innocent and asking for a retrial.
Zhou told reporters he had seen a tiger again in the same area but couldn't get photographs as his camera battery had died, according to a former report.
It has been 24 years since a South China tiger has been seen on Chinese soil.
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