(CN) South China tiger rediscovered

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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-10/12/content_6171270.htm

Wild tiger spotted over 30 years after 'extinction'

(Xinhua)

Updated: 2007-10-12 22:18

 

XI'AN -- Chinese researchers announced on Friday that the wild South China

Tiger, an endangered tiger subspecies believed to have been extinct in the

wild for more than 30 years, was spotted in a mountainous area in northwest

China.

 

The tiger was snapped by a local farmer on October 3 near a cliff in

Zhenping County, Shaanxi Province, and experts have confirmed that it was a

young wild South China tiger, said the Shaanxi Forestry Department.

 

Zhou Zhenglong, 52, a farmer of Wencai village who was once a hunter, took

pictures of the tiger with a digital camera and on film on the afternoon of

October 3, a department spokesman said.

 

Experts confirmed the 40 digital pictures and 31 film photographs were

genuine. One photograph showed the tiger lying in the grass looking straight

ahead.

 

Lu Xirong, head of a South China tiger research team in Shaanxi, said the

photos proved that wild south China tigers still exist in China.

 

" There has been no record of the survival of wild south China tigers in more

than 30 years, and it was only an estimate that China still had 20 to 30

such wild tigers, " Lu added

 

The south China tiger is the only tiger subspecies native to China's central

and southern areas. In the early 1950s, its population was at 4,000 across

the country. Since 1964, no sightings of wild South China tigers have been

recorded in Shaanxi.

 

A cave was also found near the site where the tiger was spotted.

 

Zhou was given 20,000 yuan (US$2,666) as a reward for the finding by the

Shaanxi forestry authorities.

 

The department said it would continue its research into the wild tigers to

find out their distribution and number and establish a special protection

area for them.

 

The department organized a 30-member South China Tiger research team in

2006, which has carried out surveys in Zhenping county 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 south China tiger, from which other sub-species such as the Siberian

Tiger evolved, has been listed as one of the world's ten most endangered

animals.

 

Its former habitats were in Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous

Region as well as the central provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi.

 

Lu said the existence of wild South China tigers should be attributed to

effective local environmental protection efforts in recent years.

 

Forestry protection has resulted in an increasing number of large

grass-eating animals such as gorals and roe deer, which provide rich prey

for wild South China tigers, according to Lu.

 

Local people's awareness of protection of wild animals has also been raised.