The influential America-based Science magazine published a photo Friday which it claimed to be of a wild South China tiger, which was taken in northwest China.

The magazine quoted Gary Koehler of Washington State’s Department of Fish and Wildlife as saying that “it’s tremendously exciting news, if it can be substantiated”.

The photograph, purporting to be the first sighting of a South China tiger for more than 30 years, has already aroused intensive among Chinese netizens as well as scientists and scholars, after it was released on October 12.

The photo was chosen from 71 digital and film photos, reportedly taken by a local farmer named Zhou Zhenglong in early October in Zhenping County, Shaanxi Province.

There are doubts over its veracity and suggestions that digital technology may have been used to alter the image by netizens and a botanist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). In addiction the international foundation, Save China’s Tigers (SCT), also issued a claim commenting on the alleged spotting of the South China tiger.

The claim said that a tiger needs about 20 square kilometers of habitat for its own survival. Zhenping County has a tiger reserve zone of up to 140 square kilometers, so even if there are tigers, it will only be a very small population.

Tigers, as solitary animals, are not easily spotted by humans. So it would have been extraordinary for Mr. Zhou to spot and photograph the tiger for two days in a row, the claim said.

It also pointed out that tigers are very vigilant animals. When they see strange animals, their first reaction would be to press themselves flat to the ground and prepare for attack or escape. But Zhou’s photos did not show the tiger in such a position.

But forestry officials in Shaanxi have rushed to Mr Zhou’s defense. “The photos were proved genuine by experts of wildlife and photography we have organized to scrutinize them,” Said Sun Chengqian, deputy-director of the provincial forestry department.

Guan Ke, an official with the department’s information office also claimed that he believed that the photos are genuine, judging from his many years’ experience of shooting wildlife in Shaanxi Province.

However, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) urged the public to be more sensible over the authenticity of those photos.

“One single tiger does not necessarily translate into the existence of a group, and whether the photos are true or not does not illustrate the current situation of wild South China tigers,” said Cao Qingrao, spokesman of SFA at a press conference Thursday.

“Disputes over those photos would be a storm in teapot,” said Richard Stone, Asia editor of Science magazine.

Some Chinese scientists also echoed the opinion saying that people should know better than merely arguing about the authenticity of the photos.

“We should be aware that there are many wildlife and plants that should be protected in this area of Shaanxi even if there are no South China tigers,” said Xie Yan, a researcher of tigers with the Institute of Zoology of the CAS.

“To look from a positive point of view, disputes over the authenticity of the photos showed that the public has developed a much greater interest in the conservation of wild animals. It is important to preserve people’s concern about wildlife,” said Xie, adding that local people should be encouraged to protect the biodiversity in the area.

Chinese zoologists are preparing an expedition to determine the possible existence of the “extinct” wild South China tiger in Shaanxi Province. But the SFA ruled out the possibility of offering a reward for taking pictures of the wild cat for fear of disturbing them if they actually exist.”

Japanese scientists have created genetically-modified mice that, shorn of their ability to sense dangerous smells, will even snuggle up to a kitten, according to a study released on Wednesday by the journal Nature.

The mice were engineered to lack specific nasal receptors that respond to the scent of rotting food or predators, in a project designed to help understand the mechanisms of smell.

The mice were able to detect these smells using other olfactory cells but, lacking the key pathway that triggered a “fear” warning to the brain, were quite undeterred by the presence of a cat or acids and other dangerous compounds.

However, the mice could be conditioned into realising that these smells meant danger, using classic laboratory methods of exposing them to the scents and to a painful irritant at the same time.

The researchers, led by the University of Tokyo’s Hitoshi Sakano, believe that the findings explain important differences in the olfactory bulb, the part of the forebrain where odours are perceived.

Inside the bulb are several thousand clusters of cells called glomeruli, which receive signals from the millions of receptor cells in the nose.

In mice, separate sets of glomeruli are used to receive warning smells, the paper suggests. One set is innate, and another set is for learned responses.

A $10,000 cat is back with its rightful owner thanks to a dedicated Florida cop.

Mike Brock, of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, owns a dog and three cats. Prior to taking the case, he was jokingly known as the “pet detective.”

His nickname is now official thanks to this latest case.

The cat’s owner, Sydney Williams, said she knew instantly that her prize pet had disappeared. The cat, named Taz, is a Savannah cat.

Savannah cats are a rare domestic breed of cats that have African heritage, according to SavannahCat.com.

“We have five cats and five dogs,” Williams said. “Everyone was milling about except for Taz, who didn’t show up for dinner. By the next morning, I knew he was gone and I was frantic.”

Williams said traffic inside her already busy home picked up last summer as contractors came in and out.

“We had a construction company here for quite a period of time,” Williams said.

Williams said some of the workers had asked her what she feeds her Savannah cat and how she cares for him.

Brock tracked down those workers.

He said he was worried that the thieves would rather dispose of the evidence than risk returning the cat.

“I had to be real careful. I didn’t want to spook anybody to the point where they harm the animal,” Brock said. “I basically told them it would be in everybody’s best interest if this cat was returned to the family safe and unharmed.”

A couple of days after he spoke to the workers, the cat was returned.

Williams said she is just happy to have Taz safely home.

“I don’t even know what to say about Detective Brock. We truly believe if it wasn’t for him, we would have never seen Taz again,” she said.

The Williams’ decided not to press charges against the catnapper.

Dogs have the ability to do some of the most amazing things. They help lead the blind, find missing people, and even help police catch bad guys. You’ve probably never seen a dog who can help detect diabetes in a human. In fact, we may have found the only one like her in the San Antonio area.

Tristin is a pretty typical 11-year-old boy. He loves sports. He’s very energetic, and he absolutely adores his dog. Sasha is his 2-year-old Weimeranar.

They’re inseparable. Wherever he goes she goes, even to school.

Sasha is a diabetic alert service dog, the only one we know of near San Antonio.

Tristin has Type 1 Diabetes. His body doesn’t produce insulin, the hormone that turns things like sugar and starches into energy we all need to function every day.

Tristin told us, “I’ve had it since I was 3. I’ve gone through some rough times, I guess.”

In fact, diabetes has nearly killed him. His mom, Jodie, teared up when she told us what happened about a year ago. She said one morning, she went to wake up Tristin for church.

“When he stood up, his eyes were very glassy and um,’ Jodie paused to compose herself, “He fell to the floor and he went into a seizure.”

The experience was so traumatic, she explained the sound of his screams haunt her to this day.

She said, “I just talked softly to him in his ear, and said, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ He started yelling, ‘He’s here! He’s real.’”

Jodie said Tristin explained “He” was the Lord.

Tristin recovered, but his mother did not. She was more terrified and determined to find help. She read about a place in Missouri that trains diabetic alert dogs.

The organization is called Heaven Scent Paws, one of only a few in the US. There was a 5-year waiting list, but because Tristin’s condition was getting worse, he wasn’t growing or gaining weight, Heaven Scent Paws bumped him to the top.

That’s where he met and trained with Sasha. She’s been taught to detect a drop or rise in his blood-sugar levels, just by smell.

We caught up with them at Tristin’s school to see Sasha in action. Whenever his levels changed, Sasha jumped up and bopped him on the nose. He checked his level, and found they were low.

Tristin’s levels tend to rise and fall fast, so catching it early is vital.

Now, we were only visiting with Tristin for a few minutes before Sasha alerted twice. On the second alert, he found his levels were too high.

In minutes, Tristin’s blood-sugar level spiked from 72 to over 200. It wasn’t life-threatening, but there have been close calls.

These dogs can cost as much as $25,000, and the doctors we talked with don’t believe it works.

Doctor Sherwyn Schwartz is the founder and CEO of DGD Research in San Antonio, one of the largest diabetes research facilities in the country. He says there is no scientific research that proves diabetic service dogs work.

“Would I have my patients look into it? Certainly. Would I have them buy anything before it’s proven? No,” said Dr. Schwartz.

It’s nothing Tristin’s family hasn’t heard before, but they say they have all the proof they need.

News 4’s Delaine asked the owner of Heaven Scent Paws if she wanted to comment about the medical community’s view on diabetes service dogs. She said there’s no need, she knows they work.

Meantime, Tristin’s family is holding a fundraiser to help cover the costs of the dog. Learn how you can help…

Two young Chicago boys were honored Thursday for their efforts to enhance the safety of police dogs.

Jonathan and David Walker-Moses, ages 5 and 6, were recognized at the Chicago police headquarters.

Earlier this summer, the boys held a garage sale and donated all the proceeds to help buy a vest for a Chicago police dog.

Jonathan and David’s mother was also honored for her ability to raise community-minded children.

SAM the German shepherd dog has been given a police bravery award after he was nearly strangled while trying to detain a suspect in Nuneaton.

The nine-year-old police dog was on duty with partner PC Ian Head when a car drove past without any lights in September last year.

Suspecting the car was stolen, PC Head followed the car and brought it to a halt.

The driver, who appeared to be drunk, got out and ran off.

PC Head unleashed Sam, but the suspect climbed on to the roof of another car and began to kick out at Sam’s head.

The dog eventually managed to pull the man down off the car, but he fell on Sam, grabbing the dog’s collar.

The man twisted Sam’s collar until the dog was unconscious.

Using his baton, PC Head made the man release his grip but Sam remained unconscious on the floor.

Eventually he came round and helped the officer arrest the man, who was later successfully prosecuted for failure to provide a specimen and resisting arrest.

Sam was later given a clean bill of health by the vet.

His citation for Police Dog Action of the Year stated that Sam had been selected to receive the award for demonstrating “professionalism and determination” during the man’s arrest.

His award was given by Chief Inspector Adrian Knight, who is in charge of operations at Warwickshire Police.

And in a double honour, Sam was the inaugural winner of the Stan Shone Memorial shield, a new trophy awarded to the best-performing police dog in a competition to test their skills at obedience, agility and person and property search.

The award was presented by PC Mick Shone, and is named after his father who was one of the first police dog handlers at Warwickshire Police in the 60s.

Sam was one of a number of dogs honoured by the force.

A police spokeswoman said: “They are an indispensable part of the police family. Our dogs are trained to the highest standards and they thoroughly enjoy their work, forming a close working partnership with their handlers.

“Thankfully incidents such as this are rare.

“It is nice to be able to acknowledge the work of the dogs when they perform over and above what is expected of them.”

Roxy is going to be famous in 2008.

This Kansas City kitty is featured in “The 365 Kittens-A-Year Calendar 2008,” a picture-a-day wall calendar. Workman, which publishes the calendar, had a “Kittens of Distinction” photo contest to find cats for its pages.

Teede Stipich of Kansas City sent in photos of her black cat Roxy, 1. To understand how Roxy came to her home, you have to start with another black cat named Derby that Stipich adopted three years ago.

“After one year, I engaged a pet psychic to speak to him about a companion,” Stipich said.

So she adopted Roxy from Purrfect Pets no-kill shelter in November 2006.

“I have only adopted black cats because of their beauty and mystery,” she said.

A pit bull puppy named Miracle is recovering from burns on her body.

The Detroit Free Press reports the 2-month-old dog is the sole survivor of a litter of five who died Saturday night in an arson at an abandoned home in Detroit.

An animal rescue service took the bandaged pup to a veterinarian in Bloomfield Hills. WXYZ-TV reports two charity groups are providing for her care. But they need donations to pay for the extensive treatment.

Meanwhile, the fire and animal abuse are under investigation.

A border collie in England may redefine “dog tired” after surviving nine days in a car trunk by going into a type of hibernation.

Tamer Jones, who owned Gale, all but gave up hope of finding the dog after it disappeared from her farm in Fylingthorpe, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

It turns out Gale was well hidden in the trunk of a neighbor who does odd jobs around her place, Jones said. The dog, afraid of loud noises, jumped into the trunk when startled by a low-flying airplane.

The dog survived for nine days while the man left for a vacation in London. The man found Gale when he cleaned the trunk and contacted Jones.

Gale wasn’t in good shape, she said.

“I took her straight to the vet’s and he was amazed when I told him where she had been,” she said. “The vet said that dogs can go into a hibernation period if they need to do and that’s what Gale must have done.”

The trials and tribulations of one of Britain’s largest colonies of terns have been captured for a BBC wildlife programme tonight.

The 1,300 pairs of terns - or sea swallows - at Cemlyn nature reserve were filmed over a breeding season for The Nature of Britain programme.

The birds travel thousands of miles from Africa to Anglesey because of the good fish stocks in the sea there.

The programme can be seen on BBC1 at 2100 GMT on Wednesday.

Cemlyn is run by North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT) and is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The area is ideal for breeding terns because of the availability of sand eels and small fish, according to John Rowe from NWWT.

“This is the only colony in Wales and it is to do with fish stocks in the surrounding sea,” he said.

The reserve is situated on the north coast of Anglesey, three miles from Cemaes on land owned by the National Trust but leased to the NWWT since 1971.

It includes a large lagoon, separated from the sea by a naturally created shingle ridge known as Esgair Gemlyn.

The birds attract tourists to the area with 3,000 visitors recorded last year.

Over the birds breeding season - after their flight back to Anglesey from Senegal in Africa - the cameras followed the ups and downs in the colony.

“We have mostly sandwich terns, but also common terns and arctic terns breeding here,” added Mr Rowe.

“What I like most about them is all the troubles they have to deal with.

“They fly so far, breed in such big numbers close together, they deal with a lot.”

Viewing the birds close up on the ground is usually quite difficult as they like to keep their distance, so the TV cameras will provide and opportunity to see them close up, he added.