China Imprisons 26 for Killing Pandas
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HONG KONG — Twenty-six men have been sent to prison for killing and skinning giant pandas in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, the China News Service said.
The sentences ranged from three years to life. The agency said on Wednesday that the men killed six pandas, a protected species in China, and tried to smuggle their skins abroad for sale. They also skinned 16 pandas that had starved to death because of a shortage of the pandas’ staple food, arrow bamboo.
About 1,000 pandas are believed to exist in the wild, but their numbers are dwindling. China this year warned that poachers and smugglers could face execution.
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