Protection for rare tiger

The Shaanxi forestry administration bureau yesterday banned all kinds of hunting activities in the mountainous areas of Zhenping County, where the Penthern tiger (South China Tiger), a species unique to China, was spotted by a farmer in the wild last Friday after two decades of no sightings.

The county government has set up checkpoints at the entrance to the mountain to prevent people from entering the area. The bureau said that it would launch further investigations into the number of the rare tiger and its habitats.

(China Daily 10/16/2007 page3)