A Chinese farmer who has been widely accused of fabricating a photo
of a south China tiger in the wild, a species that had not been
spotted for more than 30 years, says he will return to the wild to
track the big cat and substantiate his pictures.
Zhou Zhenglong, 52, a former hunter in Chengguan Township of
Shaanxi Province's Zhenping County, reportedly took more than 70
snaps of the rare tiger with a digital camera and on film on the
afternoon of October 3. Experts confirmed the images showed one of
the elusive cats.
But Chinese Internet users and a botanist with the Chinese
Academy of Sciences have questioned its veracity, and claimed
digital technologies might have been used to alter the image.
An Internet user under the name "Panzhihua xydz" has posted a
poster with a very similar image. "I thought Zhou's photo was
familiar somehow. Then I found the same picture hanging on the wall
of my mother's home in Panzhihua," said the man, surnamed Li.
Li, from the southwestern Sichuan Province, said the two images
were "almost the same" except the one on his mother's wall was
lighter in color.
Other Internet users reported seeing the same poster for sale
and its producer, a company based in the eastern Zhejiang Province,
admitted having printed and sold the tiger poster five years
ago.
"We have received many calls asking whether our poster was a
replica of Zhou's photo," said Luo Guanglin, general manager of
Vista Printing and Wrapping Co. Ltd., in Yiwu. "But that's
ridiculous. We published the tiger posters at the end of 2002."
Luo refused to comment on the public allegations that Zhou
Zhenglong's photo was a fabrication. "As a company we're not in a
position to make any judgement to that effect. Nor do we wish to
get involved in the dispute."
The poster, which had sold for 4.5 yuan, has been much sought
after across China and now sells for 10 yuan in Guangzhou, capital
of southern Guangdong Province.
Fu Dezhi, a noted botanist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
said the poster "should have revealed the fraudulent nature of the
case and put an end to the story".
Yet Zhou Zhenglong insists he captured a real tiger on his
camera, and has been searching for tiger tracks in the wild for the
last three days. "I need to find more evidence to defend
myself."
Zhou said earlier he had risked his life to take the photo. "I
was prepared to be killed by the tiger".
Forestry authorities in Zhenping county, where the tiger was
purportedly seen, insisted the wild cat did exist in its
mountains.
"We have had more than 20 reports since July of tiger tracks,
roars, fur and droppings. There have also been reports of attacks
on other wild animals," the county's forestry department said in
statement.
Amid media speculation over the county's attempt to gain
publicity, Yuan Chunqing, governor of Shaanxi Province, said the
government had done nothing wrong to encourage the citizens to
track endangered animals. "It's far more important for us to carry
out the research rather than to tell the veracity of a photo," he
said. "I'm sure we'll know the truth soon."
Zhou's alleged discovery and photo of the tiger also appeared in
the Science magazine, which quoted Gary Koehler, of Washington
State's Department of Fish and Wildlife, as saying, "It's
tremendously exciting news, if it can be substantiated".
(China Daily November 19, 2007)
