Ma Weihu, a native of northwest China’s Gansu province, received a 14-year sentence and a fine of 100,000 yuan (US$12,800) for illegally buying around 900 owls, a Grade-II state protected animal, and selling them to restaurants in south China’s Guangdong Province, said the report.
Twelve others were handed jail terms ranging from five to 13 years.
They bought more than 4,000 owls in total, mainly in Ningxia, and sold the birds to Guangdong between August 2005 and April 2006.
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photo by MG Jefferies