By Xinhua writers Li Jianmin and Ding Jing
XI'AN, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A newly-released photo, which Chinese forestry
authorities say proves the continuing existence of wild South China tigers which
have been thought to be extinct, has sparked heated controversy from Internet
citizens, questioning its authenticity.
The digital picture, purporting to be a wild South China tiger crouching in
the midst of green bushes, was released by the Forestry Department of northwest
China's Shaanxi Province at a news conference on Oct. 12.
Zhou Zhenglong, 52, a farmer and former hunter in Chengguan Township of
Shaanxi's Zhenping County, photographed the tiger with a digital camera and on
film on the afternoon of Oct. 3, a department spokesman said.
Experts had confirmed the 40 digital pictures and 31 film photographs are
genuine, the spokesman told reporters.
But dozens of netizens expressed doubts about the authenticity of the
digital picture -- the only one of the 71 taken to be released at the news
conference -- after it had been posted on the Internet, especially in on-line
forums discussing Photoshop (PS) technologies.
Netizens suspected that the picture had been processed with PS technologies
before release, citing the irregular effects of illumination and focus, and the
unreal fur color of the tiger.
Some doubted whether the tiger is a wild one because its eyes look mild and
dull, not frightening.
While others said that the tiger's skin and hair seem too shiny, without
three-dimensional effect, and speculated that the digital picture might be taken
from another picture featuring a South China tiger, or even that a tiger picture
was enlarged, made into cardboard cut-out and placed in bushes before being
photographed.
A forestry official in Shaanxi defended the authenticity of the digital
picture on Thursday.
"Zhou Zhenglong risked his life in taking these photos, so they are very
precious. We are being cautious and responsible in releasing one of the photos,"
said Zhu Julong, deputy head of the Provincial Forestry Department.
He added that Zhou was not a professional photographer and took these
photos in a great panic because he was close to the tiger. As a result, many of
the pictures are unclear, he said.
"Zhou only agreed to give us two digital pictures for release and we chose
a relatively clear one," he said.
Chai Jianzhong, manager of the Xinjinhu Digital Photo Service in the
provincial capital of Xi'an, also defended the authenticity of Zhou's picture.
"The color of his digital pictures is very good and looks more brilliant
after being developed, but the film negatives are unclear. Technologically, the
photos were not fabricated," Chai said.
"Zhou asked me to develop all the photos on Oct. 11, and specially enlarge
a relatively clear one, without any other technological treatment, which was the
one to be released," he said.
Xu Taoqing, a research fellow of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of
Animals Studies, said that it would be "simply impractical" for Zhou to bring
either a "paper" tiger or a real, domesticated tiger to the mountain for the
purposes of faking a photograph, because it was a six-hour walk from the county
seat of Zhenping to the mountain.
The owner of the disputed photo, Zhou, from Wencai Village in Chengguan
Township, was angered by the suspicious remarks.
"It's beyond doubt that I really took the photos of a South China tiger. If
they (netizens) have doubts about the photo provided by the forestry department,
they can go and ask the officials," he said.
Zhou acknowledged that he only gave two digital pictures to the forestry
department, and besides, the two photos were not "the clearest ones."
Zhou has been given 20,000 yuan (2,666 U.S. dollars) as a reward for
finding the tiger by the Shaanxi forestry authorities.
But Zhou, who believes he will be further hugely rewarded by authorities
because of the photos, refused to show his original photos to reporters or
anyone else.
"I must protect my intellectual property rights for which I have risked my
life," he said.
Despite suspicions about the authenticity of the photo, no netizens have
actually doubted the real existence of the South China tigers, an endangered
tiger subspecies believed to have been extinct in the wild for more than 30
years.
The South China tiger, from which other sub-species such as the Siberian
tiger evolved, is listed as one of the world's ten most endangered animals.
It is the only tiger subspecies native to China's central and southern
areas. In the early 1950s, its population was 4,000 across the country. Since
1964, no sightings of wild tigers have been reported in Shaanxi.
Its former habitats were in Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region and the central provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi.
Xu Taoqing said that Zhenping County has been a distribution area for wild
South China tigers in history, and local residents have heard roars and seen
traces of tigers over recent years.
The Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Department organized a 30-member South
China Tiger research team in 2006, which has carried out surveys in Zhenping
since June last year. It said villagers had reported 17 sightings of South China
tigers and heard their roars six times, but the claims could not be confirmed.
They also found footprints, excrement, hair and teeth of South China tigers
during the survey in Zhenping, which led them to believe the tigers still exist
in the wild in China.
The forestry department has banned all hunting around the mountain where
the wild South China tiger was believed to be spotted and ordered checkpoints at
the main entrances to the mountain area to prevent uncontrolled entry and
protect the endangered species and its habitat.
"We will take this opportunity to draw up an overall protection plan and
apply for establishing a nature reserve for the South China tiger in areas
around the mountain," Zhu Julong said.
