Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

China comes down hard on pangolin smugglers
10 Jan 2008 04:05:42 GMT
 Source: Reuters
BEIJING, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Two men in China's southeastern city of Xiamen have been given suspended death sentences for smuggling pangolins and other exotic animals into the country, state media reported on Thursday.

Pangolins, nocturnal scaly anteaters which spend most of their days curled up in a ball asleep, are in great demand in China where their meat is considered a delicacy and their scales believed to hold medicinal properties.

From October 2005 to April 2006, a gang smuggled 17 containers of pangolin meat and scales worth 23.4 million yuan ($3.2 million) into China, Xinhua news agency said.

Two gang leaders were sentenced to death, suspended for two years. Three others were jailed for life.

In China, a suspended death sentence is usually commuted to life imprisonment on good behaviour.

In summer 2006, customs officials became suspicious of a container which was found to hold 2,849 frozen pangolins and 2,600 large geckos originating from Malaysia together worth 6 million yuan ($825,000).

China has stepped up efforts in recent years to stamp out a domestic wildlife trade and educate people about the environmental perils of stripping forests of their native flora and fauna.

But the appetite for exotica remains and partly as a result of the crackdown, the trade has intensified beyond China's borders.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, editing by Nick Macfie and Sanjeev Miglani)

($1=7.271 Yuan)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Children recognised in anti-trafficking policy
WV - Asia Pacific

•  Protective action: Incorporating civilian protection into humanitarian reponse
HPG - UK

•  World Vision Urges U.S. Congress to Reauthorize AIDS Relief Plan
WV - USA

MORE >>

Latest news

•  China comes down hard on pangolin smugglers

•  Australia to end plastic bags in supermarkets

•  Japan plans $10 bln aid to fight global warming

•  Japan plans $10 bln aid to fight global warming

•  China bus crash kills 14 - Xinhua

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
China comes down hard on pangolin smugglers (1 minute ago)

Australia to end plastic bags in supermarkets (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
Climate change and conflicts: Is there a link at all? (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
Children recognised in anti-trafficking policy (1 minute ago)

Blogs
Bali climate change talks: 'The long, arduous road' to nowhere? (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: Global flood locations (5 jan 2008) (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
China Malaysia

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-09T104826Z_01_PEK206_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-USA-TRADE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK206.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-09T103509Z_01_PEK204_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-USA-TRADE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK204.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-09T101337Z_01_PEK201_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-PLASTIC_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK201.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-09T101126Z_01_PEK200_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-PLASTIC_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK200.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-09T100805Z_01_PEK203_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-PLASTIC_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK203.htm

The sun sets next to a smokestack from a coal-burning power station in Beijing January 9, 2008. China's lax patent protection is hampering growth of the multi-billion dollar trade in clean ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Thu Jan 10 04:07:39 2008