The State Forestry Administration (SFA) will organize a team of experts to carry out a special investigation into the existence of the "extinct" wild South China tigers in China's northwest Shaanxi Province.

A farmer in Chengguan Township of Shaanxi's Zhenping in northwest China claimed that he took a digital picture of the tiger. The picture sparked heated public suspicion although local authorities confirmed its authenticity.

"We are organizing a team," SFA spokesperson Liu Xiongying told Xinhua, "but forestry investigation is a complicated task and we are still making specific plans, including selecting experts."

He declined to give further details but commented that public attention paid to the wild South China tigers shows Chinese people care more and more about ecology and protecting wild animals.

The Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Department has banned all hunting around the mountain where the wild South China tiger was claimed to be have been spotted, and ordered checkpoints at the main entrances to the mountain area to prevent uncontrolled entry and protect the endangered tiger and its habitat.

The wild South China tigers, an endangered tiger subspecies believed to have been extinct in the wild for more than 30 years, is listed as one of the world's ten most endangered animals.

The SFA said that the Zhenping Country was one of the major habitats for wild South China tigers throughout history.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2007)