BEIJING - CHINA has sacked government officials and arrested a man in connection with a set of fake photographs that the local authorities had said was evidence a highly endangered tiger exists.

Last October, forestry officials in Zhenping county, in north-western Shaanxi province, published photos of the South China tiger in a forest setting.

According to local press reports, the forestry officials were seeking to set up a South China tiger natural reserve, and the photos were being used as a springboard for their conservation campaign.

Nine months later, the Shaanxi provincial government confirmed that the photos of the tiger, which has not been seen in the wild since 1964, were fake.

Thirteen local officials - including Mr Zhu Julong, deputy head of the province's forestry bureau, and top wildlife official Wang Wanyun - were sacked, state news agency Xinhua said yesterday.

Zhou Zhenglong, 54, the farmer who took the photo using a digital camera, was arrested on suspicion of fraud, Xinhua reported, after police seized a picture of a tiger which he had borrowed from another farmer to base his photos on.

Police also found a wooden model of a tiger claw, which Zhou allegedly used to fabricate a South China tiger paw print in the snow.

A police investigation found the photos were shot in the forest of Madaozi, 15km from the Wencai village in Zhenping county, said Mr Bai Shaokang, spokesman for the Public Security Department of Shaanxi.

'It was a small area with few tall trees, which was not a suitable habitat for a real tiger,' he said. Police even located the plants seen around the South China tiger in Zhou's picture.

The scandal has captivated local media, and many Chinese have viewed the saga as symbolic of the common people's lack of trust in the local authorities.

China has been rocked by a number of scandals involving official endorsement of photos of rare wildlife in recent years.

In February, the chief editor of a Chinese newspaper quit after one of its photographers faked a prize-winning photo of endangered Tibetan antelopes appearing unfazed by a passing train on the Qinghai-Tibet railway.

Experts say no more than 20 to 30 of the South China tigers are believed to remain in the wild. The South China tiger, whose traditional range is in southern and central China, is one of six remaining tiger subspecies.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE