Danwei: Rare South China tiger photo a hoax?

A peasant from Shaanxi claims to have taken a photo of the South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), thought to be extinct in the wild. [See "Fake tiger, real news?" By Jeremy Goldkorn. Danwei, 19 Oct 2007



Photo from Danwei.

Netizens believed that this photo was PS-ed (photoshoped) and the controversy is generating even more news. This is partly related to fake news scandals (like the fake bun story) that struck China in recent months, courtesy of state-owned news agency Xinhua.

A healthy dose of skepticism is always a good thing!

Update: 1. now a Chinese botantist wades in with evidence from the size of the leaves in the tiger photo.
2. China Daily editorial

Update 3: Eye of the Tiger

Update 4: and the saga continues, now the tiger story even made it to Science magazine.