Chinese police have arrested three suspects involved in trafficking 553 rare animals, including 238 under state protection.
Police detained Dai Dagen, Zheng Caiyou and Liu Fanghua on a major highway early this month in central China’s Henan province where they were taking the animals to Zhejiang Province where they were expected to sell them.
The animals, including condors, eagles, hawks, pheasants and grass hares, had all died when they were found in a truck because of bad weather.
The suspects confessed that they bought the animals in northwest China’s Gansu province where poaching is rampant. The police are hunting for more suspects.
(People’s Daily 02/20/2001)
