A man is seen smiling while he holds up a Seberian white crane that appears to be dead. [Photo: weibo.com]

Local authorities in China's Tibet autonomous region are denying that pictures of animal poaching that surfaced online and caused public outrage took place the the Tibetan county of Metok, according to Xinhua.

The four images, which first circulated on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media site, show poachers engaged in various acts of animal killing and trap-setting. In one of the pictures, a man is seen smiling while he holds up a Siberian white crane that appears to be dead. Another picture shows a dead leopard cat tied to the back of a motorbike.

Both animals are considered "protected species" in China and "endangered" globally. The white crane is considered as the "most threatened" of the world's 15 crane species.

The pictures have sparked public backlash against the poachers and illegal hunting activities.

Weibo users have been demanding authorities to investigate and punish those responsible.

Metok's forestry bureau has confirmed the existence of poaching in its area, but claim that these pictures weren't taken within their jurisdiction.

The forestry bureau was responding to the claims made by the Weibo user who originally published the photos. The blogger claimed that he had personally seen traps laid in Metok to catch animals, but didn't witness any poaching.

Reporters with Xinhua contacted the blogger to clarify his claims. The Weibo user claims the pictures were sent to him from some wildlife protectionists and were taken in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The forestry bureau in Metok said they have begun taking measures to remove the traps and strengthen their forces to combat illegal hunting in the area.

Located in southeastern Tibet, Metok has a forest coverage of more than 80 percent. The county is home to a large number of rare and endangered species, including the Bengal tiger, Asian black bear, clouded leopard, and the takin.