Photo: VCG

 

Five culprits involved in the selling of a body of a dead lion in a wet market in East China's Zhejiang Province were given jail sentences ranging from eight months to five years and six months. The offenders were also fined between 10,000 yuan ($1,544) and 80,000 yuan for the crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals, a local prosecutor in Wenling, Zhejiang, disclosed recently. Two buyers of four lion legs were dealt with in a separate case. 

A lion domesticated and bred at a circus in East China's Anhui Province suddenly had difficulty in breathing and died after a failed treatment last January. The circus boss surnamed Li secretly stole the lion's body instead of reporting the incident to the local forestry administration. 

With the help of his friend surnamed Ma, Li sold the body to two other culprits surnamed Li and Yin at the price of 16,000 yuan. Later, Li and Yin sold four lion legs to a dealer surnamed Zheng at a wet market in Wenling. 

Zheng further sold one leg to a buyer surnamed Sun and was caught by the local police while trading the other three legs with another buyer surnamed Lin. 

The lion involved was identified as an African lion which is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the parts of its body were identified as national key protected animal products. 

According to China's Criminal Law, domesticated or bred rare and endangered wild animals are forbidden from being traded or eaten. 

Global Times