Less Indochinese Tigers in China
Tigers around the world are threatened by habitat loss, black market trade in skins, bones and other parts of their bodies, according to Scientific American. It looks like a bit of justice was made in regard to this issue, when a few countrymen, proved to have killed and eaten the last Indochinese tiger of the Yellow Country, were condemned to several years in prison and fined.The legally-protected rare animal was shot by a villager of Mengla, Yunnan province, named Kang Wannian.
After killing the tiger, Kang and his four crime associates, ate the animal. The man claims he killed the tiger in self-defense, while hunting an exotic frog in the National Nature Reserve of Xishuangbanna together with another man, Gao Zuqiao. Kang also said it was dark and the two left the place immediately after realizing the killed animal was a tiger, Xinhua News Agency reports.
It looks like the current preservation laws are not quite effective against human greed. Kang killed the last Indochinese tiger of China, last officially noticed in the country in 2007. As a result, the killer was convicted to 10 years of jail for killing the rare Indochinese tiger, besides the 2 years prison sentence for a firearm possession and a fine of 14 642 US dollars. His crime associates were also proven guilty of “covering up and concealing criminal gains” and condemned to 3 to 4 years in prison. Fortunately, Indochinese tigers (also known as Corbett's tiger or Panthera tigris corbetti ) still exist on the planet, in Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam.
Nevertheless, their numbers are estimated to under 1,000, let alone the fact that they are in a permanent danger because of illegal hunting and progressive habitat loss.
Posted by lady_olga
