doctor_slump 2008-2-5 07:58 PM
China officials say sorry in "paper tiger" saga
A Chinese forestry department has apologised for publishing photographs a farmer said were of a critically endangered South China tiger but which many people believe were faked.
The Shaanxi Forestry Department, which announced last October that the tiger had been spotted, said sorry for publicising the photos, but has said nothing about their authenticity.
The department apologised in a letter sent to Xinhua news agency.
"We didn't report to the superiors according to stipulated procedures and didn't have a spot investigation before we held the press conference," Xinhua quoted the letter as saying.
"We curtly released the discovery of the South China tiger without substantial proof, which reflects our blundering manner and lax discipline."
In October, farmer Zhou Zhenglong produced photographs of the tiger he said were taken in the forest near his village.
The forestry department said the photographs were proof that the South China tiger, belonging to a subspecies long feared extinct, still existed in the wild.
But Internet users accused Zhou of making the tiger images with digital software, and local authorities of approving the photographs to bolster tourism.
The South China tiger debate captivated local media following the appearance of a Lunar New Year commemorative poster whose image of a tiger bears a striking resemblance to the one in Zhou's pictures.
