Global News - December 2007

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China set to probe panda hunting reports

Mon 17 December 2007 13:30 UK — Asia,Bears

Chinese government officials are investigating reports of illegal hunting and trading of giant pandas in the south-west of the country.

According to Xinhua, representatives of the State Forestry Commission confirmed that local police in Baoxing county, Sichuan province, had detected several cases of giant pandas being hunted.

The announcement comes in the wake of local newspaper reports last week that unidentified buyers were offering huge sums of money for giant panda pelts.

Cao Qingyao, a Spokesman for the State Forestry Commission, told the website: "We have sent a working group to supervise the investigations and we will prosecute anyone involved."

The sale of a giant panda pelt can fetch up to 500,000 Chinese yuan (£33,600), in an area where villagers earn, on average, less than 3,000 yuan (£202) a year, the site explained.

Local newspaper the Southern Weekend claimed that 19 pandas have been killed for their skins in Baoxing over the past 20 years, with the area now home to 143 of the endangered animals.

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