Newman Huo

SHENZHEN Safari Park has opened a special Web page on its Web site www.szzoo.net for park visitors to post online photos they have taken of the two South China tigers at the park.

Visitors can also discuss online with the safari park’s animal experts about the authenticity of the controversial photo of a purported wild South China tiger taken by farmer-turned-hunter Zhou Zhenglong in Shaanxi Province.

Zhou’s photo, purporting to be the first sighting of a wild South China tiger for more than 30 years, has been discussed by scientists and scholars since it was released Oct. 12.

On Nov. 16, a netizen posted online what he claimed was “convincing proof” that the picture was fake — a poster of a tiger that hangs on the wall of his home. In the past week, local photographers and tourists have flocked to Shenzhen Safari Park to take photos of the two South China tigers, which were flown in from the Shanghai Zoo in September 2005.

After two years of living in the city’s safari park, the two tigers have adapted to the climate and conditions of South China, according to Zhao Yunhua, an animal expert in Shenzhen Safari Park.

Zhao invited visitors to take photos of the park’s two South China tigers from an angle similar to the one of Zhou’s picture in order to judge the authenticity of Zhou’s photo.

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 in the country.

No confirmed sightings of wild tigers have been reported in China for more than 30 years.