CHINESE researchers announced yesterday that the wild South China tiger, a subspecies believed to have been extinct in the wild for more than 30 years, has been spotted in a mountainous area in northwest China.

The animal was photographed 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 the pictures on a digital camera and on film.

Experts confirmed the 71 pictures were genuine. One photograph showed the tiger lying in the grass looking straight ahead. A cave was also discovered near where the tiger was photographed.

Lu Xirong, head of a South China tiger research team in Shaanxi, said the photos proved that the animals still exist in the wild.

"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 about 4,000 across the country. Since 1964, no sightings have been recorded in Shaanxi.

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

Lu said his department would establish a special protection area for the tigers and undertake further research into the rare animals.

(Agencies)