67 wild red pandas, each costing RMB 350,000. Who is paying for the poaching?

67 wild red pandas, each costing RMB 350,000. Who is paying for the poaching?

Original Maimai Species Calendar 2022-11-09 12:03 Published in Beijing

On November 2, the police in Leshan, Sichuan reported a major case of endangering precious and endangered wild animals. In this case, the police found a total of 67 poached wild red pandas , of which 4 were dead.

These red pandas were changed hands and eventually sold to various parts of the country at a price of 350,000 yuan each. But who bought the red pandas?

The red panda seized in the case｜Red Star News

Poaching red pandas from the forest

The red panda in this case originally lived in the forest of Mabian County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province.

Although red pandas have received much attention online, in reality, their numbers are declining due to habitat destruction, poaching and other factors. In 2001, it was estimated that there were about 16,000 to 20,000 red pandas in the wild, of which 5,000 to 6,000 were in China; by 2015, the estimated number of red pandas in the wild was less than 10,000. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies red pandas as endangered species , and they are listed as Class II protected animals in China.

The forests in Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet and other places in my country, as well as the mountainous areas of Nepal, India, Bhutan and Myanmar, are the current habitats of red pandas｜Aconcagua / Wikimedia Commons

Mabian County is located in the Xiaoliangshan area on the southwestern edge of Sichuan, where red pandas are found. In April this year, the police found that someone bought red pandas from hunters in Mabian at a price ranging from 2,500 to 4,000 yuan per panda. The buyer then resold the pandas to a breeding farm in Chengdu at a price of 10,000 yuan per panda.

The farm has complete qualifications, and the operator has been engaged in wild animal breeding and domestication for 10 years. However, it was in this "completely qualified" farm that the police found 60 live red pandas and one dead red panda, and later found three red panda carcasses in the bamboo forest .

After combing through the gang's trading records, the police found that they traded 80 to 90 red pandas. According to the police, these hunters confessed during the interrogation, "In the past, we could catch a red panda every day for several consecutive days, but now we often go into the mountains for more than a week and still can't catch one ."

The suspect pointed out the location of the illegal hunting of red pandas. The hunters would use hunting dogs to chase the red pandas to the trees and then use nets to catch the red pandas. | Leshan Police

However, the farms are not the end of the poaching.

The red pandas were then sold at high prices to Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Yunnan, Xinjiang and other places. The transaction price rose from 50,000 yuan per panda the year before last to 135,000 yuan per panda last year, and 350,000 yuan per panda this year.

In this case, there is still limited information released about the whereabouts of the red pandas. However, this is not the first case of mass poaching of red pandas . In a case of endangered wildlife tried in Ya'an, Sichuan in February this year, the poached animals eventually ended up in an incredible place - a private zoo.

In December 2020, the police stopped a car with red pandas on the highway, thus cracking this major case of endangering precious wild animals｜CCTV.com

Whitewashing in a private zoo?

In this case in Ya'an, Sichuan, in addition to red pandas, Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys were also poached - the police found a total of 17 red pandas and 18 Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys , of which at least 10 red pandas and 1 Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey were dead when they were found.

In this case, there were also "middlemen" who purchased wild animals from illegal hunters and then resold them to downstream buyers - but these buyers turned out to be several private zoos. After secretly purchasing poached animals, these zoos used their own qualifications to "launder" the identities of these animals .

The red pandas seized by the police. In this case, the red pandas were basically sold to Shandong Laizhou Jinbo Zoo, Shandong Yantai Longkou Zoo, Shandong Linyi Lanling Baoshanqian Zoo and Jiangsu Nanjing Jinniu Lake Zoo; Sichuan golden monkeys were sold to Anhui Tongling Zoo | Ya'an Police

China has a strict wildlife trade management system , and poached wildlife is unlikely to enter the open trading market.

According to regulations, in my country, to domesticate and breed key protected wild animals, one needs a domestication and breeding license issued by the forestry department; if one wants to buy and sell these animals, one also needs a business utilization license and approval from the forestry department.

However, these private zoos that purchased poached animals took advantage of their own qualifications and falsely claimed that the purchased wild animals were all bred by the zoo itself. They then applied to the forestry department for sale and eventually sold them to other zoos at prices ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan per animal.

Poaching Chain｜CCTV.com

In this way, after being "laundered" in private zoos, animals poached from the wild become artificially bred offspring and can be "legally" resold to zoos across the country.

In addition to red pandas and Sichuan golden monkeys, spotted seals have also been subject to the black chain of poaching and laundering.

Harbor seal mother and cub. Harbor seals are the only pinnipeds that can breed in my country's waters. The ice area in the northern Liaodong Bay of the Bohai Sea is the southernmost of the eight breeding areas of harbor seals in the world. | NOAA Fisheries

In 2019, Dalian police uncovered a case of illegal poaching of spotted seals, involving a total of more than 200 spotted seal pups - and the number of spotted seals in China is no more than 2,000!

These spotted seal pups were first raised in a goose farm and then sold to seven units in six provinces. Among them, Luoyang Zhenghe Tourism Development Co., Ltd. alone purchased at least 40 spotted seal pups.

The spotted seal pups in the case were sold to Luoyang Zhenghe Tourism Development Co., Ltd., Wuhu Xinhualian Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd., Tianjin Yuhe Animal Breeding Co., Ltd., Rizhao Qiqu Ocean World Tourism Development Co., Ltd., Ningbo Shenfeng Ocean World Co., Ltd., Bazhong Ocean Park Tourism Development Co., Ltd., Taizhou Xiuling Wildlife Development Co., Ltd. and other companies. | Dalian Release

These companies also have aquatic wildlife business licenses and artificial breeding licenses. For these illegally purchased spotted seals, they sometimes illegally sell them to other zoos or aquariums at two or three times the price, and sometimes they "barter". For example, Luoyang Zhenghe Tourism Development Co., Ltd. exchanged six spotted seal pups with Shenzhen Wildlife Park in Guangdong Province for two Magellanic penguins, and then sold the penguins for 180,000 yuan; some companies rented the illegally purchased spotted seals to other companies for animal performances .

During the process of poaching and trafficking, some harbor seal pups unfortunately died.

How can we prevent whitewashing?

When zoos with legal qualifications are complicit in the abuse of power, it becomes even more difficult to uncover the poaching scam.

Breeding wild animals is difficult, takes a long time, and has a low success rate. It costs a lot to obtain individuals for sale. In contrast, poached wild animals are almost "free trade" . They are purchased at extremely low prices, and they can be resold at huge profits after being laundered. This is why the illegal and criminal act of "laundering" is always rampant.

The Sichuan golden monkeys seized by Ya'an police. Ironically, the breeding of golden monkeys is already difficult, but the Tongling Zoo, which was involved in the illegal sale of Sichuan golden monkeys, was once known as the "largest Siberian tiger and golden monkey breeding base in Anhui Province" | Ya'an Police

According to the Beijing News, when these zoos sell animals, they provide all the necessary paperwork; even if the buyer has doubts about the source of the animals - after all, animals caught in the wild are often more timid and fearful of people - it is difficult for them to raise questions because the sellers provide all the necessary paperwork .

In addition to the differences in animal behavior, the genetic information of poached animals does not match that of artificially bred individuals. If we can establish complete pedigree information for animals in zoos, clearly and accurately record the relationship, origin, birth and death time of each animal, it will not only prevent criminals from "making false ID cards" for poached animals, but also be of great benefit in tracing the movement of each individual animal, avoiding inbreeding among individuals in zoos, and optimizing the population.

At the same time, strict supervision and punishment of illegal zoos is another way to prevent similar cases. According to the regulations of the forestry department, if units and individuals who have obtained the "Domestication and Breeding License" illegally sell or use the domesticated and bred wild animals and their products, their licenses can be revoked. From the source, we can increase the supervision of wild animal breeding and feeding places, require these units to regularly disclose information on the flow of wild animals, and encourage the public to participate in supervision and reporting.

Red panda caring for its cub | Rainer Halama / Wikimedia Commons

We are still waiting for more information to be released about the red panda trafficking chain in this recent major case in Sichuan.

These furry little creatures, which can stand up when frightened, lie on branches and look innocent, are now one of the most popular cute animals on the Internet. But people's "pursuit" of them may not be limited to online.

The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) has compiled 13 cases involving red pandas in my country between 2005 and 2017. These red pandas were poached, transported and traded, and eventually flowed into the pet breeding, artificial breeding, commercial institutions and even "game" industries.

In recent years, after red pandas became well-known on the Internet, some people have kept red pandas in cafes and hotels. Some zoos also hope to exhibit red pandas in their parks to attract more tourists. In recent years, private zoos have sprung up all over the country, but their supervision is often not as strict as that of public zoos in cities , making it easier for them to find loopholes.

The forest is the home of the red panda｜Soumyadeep Chatterjee / Wikimedia Commons

The pursuit of red pandas' cuteness, the evil intentions of lawbreakers, and loopholes in the current regulatory system have ultimately woven a net for poaching red pandas and set up an interlocking trafficking chain.

The rescued red panda is temporarily kept in the Bifengxia Wildlife Park in Ya'an City.

I don’t know if they can finally return to their own pristine forest.

Author: Mai Mai

Editor: Little Towel, You Shiyou

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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