BEIJING (AFP) Jul 14, 2003
A man who killed and skinned a giant panda and sold the fur for 200 yuan (24 dollars) has been jailed for 14 years, state press reported Monday.
Yang Shicheng, a farmer from Baoxing county in southwest Chongqing municipality, shot the panda cub in a mountainous area of Sichuan province in October 1999, the Xinhua news agency said.
He later sold the fur to a man named Gao Hongyou. Gao subsequently sold it to Gou Chengxue for 2,000 yuan (243 dollars) and he was caught by police when trying to sell it at an even higher price in Chongqing in November 2002.
Xinhua said that aside from Yang, five people, including Gou, were engaged in the illegal transaction of the fur and received prison sentences of 12 years.
Giant pandas are among the most endangered species in the world, partly because of their lack of interest in sex.
Only about 1,000 giant pandas are believed to be left in the wild, all in China.
A man who killed and skinned a giant panda and sold the fur for 200 yuan (24 dollars) has been jailed for 14 years, state press reported Monday.
Yang Shicheng, a farmer from Baoxing county in southwest Chongqing municipality, shot the panda cub in a mountainous area of Sichuan province in October 1999, the Xinhua news agency said.
He later sold the fur to a man named Gao Hongyou. Gao subsequently sold it to Gou Chengxue for 2,000 yuan (243 dollars) and he was caught by police when trying to sell it at an even higher price in Chongqing in November 2002.
Xinhua said that aside from Yang, five people, including Gou, were engaged in the illegal transaction of the fur and received prison sentences of 12 years.
Giant pandas are among the most endangered species in the world, partly because of their lack of interest in sex.
Only about 1,000 giant pandas are believed to be left in the wild, all in China.
