North China's Hebei Province Friday released 47 civet cats, whose 10-month quarantine has proven they are free from the corona virus that causes the SARS.

The cats were set free Friday morning in a nature reserve in the mountainous Zanhuang County, said a forestry official.

To date, all the 476 artificially bred civet cats in the northern province have returned to the wild in the Taihang Mountain Range, said Fu Yunsheng, a wildlife protection official with the Hebei Provincial Forestry Administration.

The other 429 cats had been released earlier in the forests of Shexian County, he said.

The province isolated all the artificially bred civet cats from six professional breeders and four zoos in January 2004, amid fear that the small carnivorous mammal was host of last year's SARS outbreak.

But months-long observation and tests showed all the cats were harmless, said Fu.

"Civet cat is a rare wildlife species protected by the provincial government and is good for the ecosystem," he said.

The provincial government has compensated the local civet cat breeders 300 yuan (US$36) for each animal they contribute.

Chinese experts have recently confirmed civet cats are indeed the primary source of the SARS epidemic in Guangdong Province, but the animal is basically harmless in the north.

The brown, furry creature with a cat-like body, long tail and weasel-like face was coveted in south China, where some believed eating its tender flesh would improve their health and complexion.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2004)