After an absence of more than 40 years, rare South China Tigers are making a comeback in the east of the country.

Classed among the world's 10 most endangered species, the tigers have been sighted in East China's Zhejiang Province, according to the provincial forestry bureau.

The species has not been seen in the province since 1958. Now, after scientists used a clever DNA technique, they are known to be still living in the Baishanzu National Natural Protection Zone in southwest Zhejiang.

In October, 1998, three South China Tigers were reported to have been seen beside a mountain stream in Baishanzu.

Yet because of the lack of hard proof at the time, no one was able to verify that they were indeed members of the rare species.

However, last week footprints and faeces of the animals were collected from the Baishanzu forest.

"We examined the DNA form and compared it with DNA gathered from the South China Tigers kept at Shanghai Zoo.

The result was that they were of the same species," said Professor Fang Shengguo from the Life Science Academy of Zhejiang University.

Fang was the first scientist in the world to figure out the whole formation of giant panda DNA through faeces.

He said it has been the most convincing way so far to confirm the existence of such creatures.

In spite of the success of the test, Fang was not sure of the exact numbers of the tigers in the protection zone now.

As the latest statistics suggest, there are only about 30 to 50 South China Tigers still at large on earth, far less than the figure of 100 which is needed to maintain the species. This is a dramatic drop from 1949, when China had 4,000.

"With the present situation, this kind of tigers will die out in no more than 20 to 30 years," an official from the provincial tourism bureau said.

Experts say a single tiger needs at least 30 square kilometres of forest, where it can easily obtain necessary food and water.

Baishanzu has long been the haven of these rare tigers, thanks to the well preserved jungle, humid climate, abundant rainfall and variety of animal life.

But years of over-hunting during the late 1950s and early 1960s led to no reports of any South China Tigers until now.

Sightings of South China Tigers have also been reported over the past three years in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Hunan. But there is no scientific evidence to prove the animals were South China Tigers.