South China Tiger Update: It’s A Fake
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 22nd, 2007
The controversy over the authenticity photographs of the believed-to-be-extinct wild South China Tiger seemed to have come to an end on Friday when a netizen posted online what he claimed was a “convincing proof” that the pictures are fakes – a New Year picture of a tiger that hangs on the wall of his home.
The man, named “Panzhihua-Xydz,” said: “It’s the same picture. Even the stripes are identical.”
He left an online message that he bought the picture last year, but did not specify the date.
The discovery has encouraged skeptics who have always believed the pictures were a hoax for financial gain.
When contacted by reporters, Zhou Zhenglong, the farmer in Shaanxi Province who claimed to be the photographer of the tiger, refused to comment, according to Sina.com.
The photograph, purporting to be the first sighting of a South China Tiger for more than 30 years, aroused intense interest among scientists and scholars, after it was released on October 12.
The photo was chosen from 71 reportedly taken by Zhou in early October in Zhenping county, Shaanxi Province.
There are doubts over its veracity and suggestions that digital technology may have been used to enhance the image.
From “South China Tiger photos are ‘fake’”
China Daily November 17, 2007.
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Sadly, this only goes to show that 2-dimensional claims
(photos, video) just aren’t good enough by themselves anymore.
Feh!
It is interesting to me that in the two pics, the tiger seems to have its head at a slightly different angle. Is this just an artifact of manipulation? I agree with the above that photos are losing a lot of power as incontrovertible visual evidence of anything. You know that when doctored photos get passed off in legitimate newspapers as real ones (and it seems this has happened on quite a few occasions), we have come to an age where any exceptional photograph’s veracity is going to be questioned. Good work to the one who sniffed this one out!
Damn,..Just when you think something great takes place,POOF, gone again!! I wonder what makes people do this sort of stuff?? Too bad, thought maybe this Tiger had come back…sad.
I believe the suspected motive was tourist dollars, at least that’s what I recall reading. Pity.
Well, I still hold hope that the South China tigers may not be extinct.
Photo and video footage can no longer be stand alone evidence – nuff said. Drats, a slim hope for the South China tiger is dashed.