China herdsmen jailed for killing snow leopard
Page last updated at 05:56 GMT, Monday, 8 March 2010
Two herdsmen have been sentenced to eight and 10 years in prison for killing a snow leopard in northwest China’s Xinjiang region. China‘s state news agency Xinhua quoted local authorities saying the men had set a trap after wild animals had been preying on their sheep. When a snow leopard was trapped, they stoned it to death and gave its fur, bones and internal organs to others. It is estimated that there are just 4,000 snow leopards left in the wild. The wildlife protection office of Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture confirmed that the animal they killed was a snow leopard, said Yang Jianwei, a publicity official of Manas County Committee of the Communist Party of China, where the men were convicted. Xinhua reported that five suspects who had allegedly killed two snow leopards were arrested in January this year by the Public Security Bureau of Luntai County, Xinjiang. Four people were sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing and selling four snow leopards on 19 November 2008. Snow leopards live between 3,000 and 5,500 metres above sea level in the rocky mountains in central and south Asia
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/8554879.stm
Herdsmen Get Imprisonment for Killing Snow Leopard
Two herdsmen were sentenced to eight and 10 years in prison respectively for killing a snow leopard in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said local authorities Sunday. The two men were convicted of illegally catching and killing rare and endangered wild animals and fined at Manas County People’s Court on Feb. 28, said Yang Jianwei, a publicity official of Manas County Committee of the Communist Party of China. The two men set an animal trap after their sheep had been preyed on by wild animals. When a snow leopard was caught by the trap, they stoned it to death and gave its fur, bones and internal organs to others. The wildlife protection office of Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture confirmed that the animal they killed was a snow leopard, Yang said. In January 2010, five suspects allegedly killing two snow leopards were arrested by the Public Security Bureau of Luntai County, Xinjiang. Four people were sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing and selling four snow leopards on Nov. 19, 2008. Snow leopards live between 3,000 and 5,500 meters above sea level in the rocky mountains in central and south Asia. It is estimated that only four or five thousand exist in the wild. In China, they can be found in Xinjiang, Qinghai Province and Tibet Autonomous Region.
http://english.cri.cn/6909/2010/03/07/1821s554798.htm