The controversial south China tiger photographs by farmer Zhou Zhenglong were fake, according to sources at a press conference of the Shaanxi Provincial government today.

Zhou, a 53-year-old from the Zhenping county of Shaanxi who claimed to have photographed the tiger with a digital camera on the afternoon of October 3 last year, was suspected of grift and arrested.

His tiger photos, first published on October 12, had been used by the Provincial Forestry Department as proof that the rare tiger still existed in the wild at a press conference. The department awarded Zhou a 20,000 yuan (US$2,915) reward.

But Internet users accused Zhou of making the tiger images with digital software, and local authorities of approving the photos to bolster tourism.