One of the party filmed the entire process of a tiger slaughter on his mobile phone. That footage was later obtained by police. Police also seized eight pieces of animal meat and bones from a refrigerator in Xu's home, some of which were later identified as tiger parts, adding that 16 geckos and a cobra were also found. Earlier this year a court in Guangxi convicted the group of 15 of "illegally transporting precious and endangered wild animal products", but the conviction was not reported at the time.
Xu was sentenced to 13 years in prison and fined 1.55 million yuan (£160,000, $250,000). The others were jailed for terms ranging five and six-and-a-half years and given smaller fines. The group appealed and a higher court upheld the ruling on Monday. Tiger bones have long been an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine, supposedly for a capacity to strengthen the human body, and while they have been removed from its official ingredient list, the belief persists among some.
It is a long-held belief across parts of Asia that penises of animals such as tigers and seals can boost men's sexual performance. However, there is no orthodox scientific evidence for such claims. Decades of trafficking and habitat destruction have slashed the tiger population from 100,000 a century ago to approximately 3,000, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species, where the tiger is classed as endangered.
3 comments:
Thirteen years is not enough for the destruction of those beautiful, very endangered animals. The rest of the world needs to start an educational campaign to convince the Chinese (and any other believers) that various parts of endangered animals will not enhance their sexuality.
At least they're enforcing the rules now! 13 years is a hell of a long time to lose from your life.
Perhaps we should just carpet bomb China with viagra?
In our lifetimes we might just witness the extinction of this magnificent, iconic animal.
Shame on us.
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