BEIJING - A tiger species thought to be extinct in the wild for more than two decades has been photographed by a farmer in northwest China, state media reports.
The South China tiger, an endangered tiger subspecies believed to have died out in the wild, was spotted in a mountainous area, the China Daily said.
The tiger was photographed by a farmer on Oct. 3. Experts confirmed that it was a young South China tiger, the newspaper quoted Shaanxi Forestry Administration Bureau Deputy Director Zhu Julong as saying.
"After careful examination, experts confirmed the authenticity of the photos. That means the tiger has been found again after more than 20 years,'' Zhu said.
The South China tiger is one of the world's smallest and the only tiger subspecies native to China's central and southern areas, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
In the early 1950s, there were 4,000 South China tigers across the country, but that number fell as their habitat was squeezed by China's economic boom. There are 68 of the tigers in zoos in China, the newspaper said.
