Chinese Arrest 2 for Killing Pandas
Police in China’s central Sichuan province arrested two peasants who killed two rare giant pandas, the official China Legal News said last week.
“From Jan. 13 to Feb. 21, several cases of hunting and killing of rare wild animals occurred in Sichuan’s Pingwu County,” the paper said.
Acting with the approval of the Pingwu County People’s Procuratorate, police arrested Yang Tianyong, 40, a peasant from Heping Village who killed a giant panda with a bow and arrow Jan. 13, the paper said.
On Feb. 21, Wang Jinghua, 22, injured a giant panda in an attempt to kill it, the paper said. The rare animal died later despite receiving veterinary care, China Legal News said.
Hunting pandas is a criminal offense that carries a prison sentence. There are only an estimated 1,000 giant pandas still surviving in the wild. The paper said county police also arrested two peasants who shot two antelope.
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