The South China Tiger, known as the Chinese Tiger, survives only in China, and its population has declined sharply since the mid-to-late 19th century when people hunted tigers in large numbers. It's hard to see the South China tiger in the wild!
In 2007, a team of experts came to Zhenping County, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province, to find the South China Tiger here. Because zhenping has many mountains and forests, the terrain is complex. The survey team needs a local hunter who is familiar with the terrain to act as a guide. Zhou Zhenglong, a 52-year-old farmer in Zhenping County at the time, was chosen as a guide because he hunted with his father at the age of 15. As soon as Zhou Zhenglong and the investigation team entered the mountain, some members of the investigation team jokingly said to Zhou Zhenglong: "Old Zhou, you have to look for it, if you take a photo of the South China Tiger, there will be a reward of 1 million yuan!" Zhou Zhenglong smiled shyly and said, "There has been no tiger here for decades." In the end, the group groped and searched in the mountain forest for more than half a month but found nothing, and the investigation team had no choice but to stop searching and leave Zhenping County. The investigation team left, and Zhou Zhenglong was rewarded as a guide and received an honorary certificate and a bonus of 1,000 yuan from the local government.
Since the investigation team left, Zhou Zhenglong has been looking for tigers, and often carries tools up the mountain alone. On the afternoon of October 3, 2007, Zhou Zhenglong came down from the mountain excitedly, and everyone said that he had photographed it, and there were tigers on the mountain. The crowd surrounded him in amazement and told him what had happened. Zhou Zhenglong said: "This morning I entered the mountain, by three o'clock in the afternoon still did not find a trace of the tiger, just when I was ready to go down the mountain, I saw something in the grass in the distance, I leaned behind the rock to see that it was a tiger, I was scared and did not dare to move, risked my life to secretly take out the camera to take a few pictures, after the shooting I waited for a while to go down the mountain, scared to death!" The villagers passed on ten, ten to a hundred, and the news that Zhou Zhenglong photographed the South China tiger quickly spread throughout the streets.
The tiger, which has not been seen for decades, was photographed by Zhou Zhenglong, and major media rushed to report it. On October 12, the Forestry Department of Shaanxi Province said that Zhou Zhenglong, a villager in Wencai Village, Chengguan Town, Ping county, Zhenkang City, took a photo of a South China tiger on October 3, 2007. Zhou Zhenglong not only wore a red color as a tiger hero, but also received a reward of 20,000 yuan from the Forestry Department of Shaanxi Province. Wang Wanyun, director of the Wildlife Conservation Division of the Forestry Department of Shaanxi Province, announced in a high-profile manner: "The Forestry Department of Shaanxi Province will formulate a conservation plan to build Zhenping County into a habitat for wild South China tigers."
Just when Zhou Zhenglong was proud of the spring breeze, netizens had a fierce discussion about the authenticity of the photos. Some people say that the photo is fake, because the tiger looks a little cute, the wild South China tiger is very alert, since Zhou Zhenglong photographed the tiger, how did he do the whole body and retreat; some people say that the photo is true, Zhou Zhenglong went into the mountain several times to eat and sleep before finally photographing the tiger, it is not easy. On November 16, 2007, a netizen said that the tiger photographed by Zhou Zhenglong was very similar to his own tiger New Year painting, and a certain year painting factory in Yiwu quickly followed up and said that the factory had indeed produced the New Year painting and wanted to sue Zhou Zhenglong. On December 19, 2007, the State Forestry Administration held a press conference, asking the Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Department to entrust a national professional appraisal agency to identify the original materials of the group of wild South China tiger photos taken by Zhou Zhenglong, and asked him to make the identification results public.
The identification results came out quickly, and the photos taken by Zhou Zhenglong were fake. Zhou Zhenglong finally confessed that he had forged a fraud. On November 17, 2008, The Zhenglong Tiger Farce ended with Zhou Zhenglong being sentenced to two years and six months in prison for committing fraud and illegal possession of ammunition, and was handed over all bonuses and fined 2,000 yuan. Zhou Zhenglong changed from a tiger hero to a prisoner of the order.
On April 27, 2012, Zhou Zhenglong was released after completing his sentence. Zhou Zhenglong, who has gained freedom, has repeatedly entered the mountains to search for The South China Tiger, and he wants to use a real photo of the South China Tiger to wash away his past. However, the reality is cruel, and in the dense mountain forest, Zhou Zhenglong has never found a trace of a tiger. Gradually, Zhou Zhenglong understood that even if he really took a picture of the South China Tiger at the moment, how many people would believe in him. The family still has to survive, and doing things in a down-to-earth manner is the way out. Zhou Zhenglong began to keep bees in the mountain forest, thanks to the unique natural conditions of the mountain forest and the quality of not being afraid of hardship, Zhou Zhenglong's beekeeping career has gradually improved, with an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan. In March 2018, the local village committee approached Zhou Zhenglong and hoped that Zhou Zhenglong would help everyone to raise bees together and achieve a comprehensive poverty alleviation in the village. Zhou Zhenglong did not hesitate and immediately agreed.
Today' Zhou Zhenglong opens an online store, does live broadcasts, is interviewed, helps poor households get rid of poverty, is hired as a beekeeping training teacher, and lives every day to the fullest. He said that life is like this, ups and downs, and living every day is the most important.