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Hoh Xil is located in the hinterland of Sanjiangyuan National Park, and many people first knew about Hoh Xil because of the Tibetan antelope. In fact, Hoh Xil is also one of the three major habitats of the wild yak population on the mainland. As an endemic species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the wild yak is a national first-class key protected animal, and has extremely significant ecological value.
Eight calves died in a car accident
Traffic accidents have other hidden circumstances
On June 11, 2022, a white off-road vehicle was involved in a crash on National Highway 109, and the driver died on the spot. When the traffic police investigated the scene, they accidentally found 8 tied calves in the car, 7 of which were dead, and the only remaining 1 was also dying. The unusual car accident caught the attention of the police.
The Forest Police Corps of the Qinghai Provincial Public Security Department set up a special team to confirm that all the eight calves were wild yaks, which were national first-class key protected animals. Subsequently, the police conducted a detailed investigation of the deceased's social relations, and soon locked up his fellow villager Suo.
Suo confessed that he conspired with Dun to hunt wild yak calves and planned to sell them to farmers for a profit. The duo rode motorbikes to drive wild yak herds in the Chauma area of Hoh Xili, capturing eight calves and stuffing them into the car.
After succeeding, Dun sent Suo home, and then drove to Golmud alone to sell, but unexpectedly suffered a car accident and died, and 8 poor calves also died.
The suspect used wild yaks to make huge profits
The task force was full of difficulties in collecting evidence
Just when the task force thought that the case was about to come to an end, Suo Mou confessed a new clue. During the hunt, he discovered that another gang was also illegally hunting wild yak calves in the same area.
This clue has attracted the attention of the task force. The police immediately went to the nearby township to investigate, and finally locked up four suspects, including Dan and Da.
The police found that the four men used similar tactics to the previous gang to illegally hunt 12 wild yak calves, two of which died during transportation and were dumped in the wilderness. The remaining wild yak calves were transported to a yak professional cooperative in Qumalai County for sale, but three more died during transportation. The remaining 7 calves were finally sold to Bu and three others at a price of 13,000 yuan per male yak and 10,000 yuan per female yak.
There were both cash and online transactions between the suspects, and the task force confirmed the facts of the crime by obtaining the transaction records between them.
In mid-July 2022, the task force launched a net collection operation and arrested all Bu and others who participated in the purchase of wild yak calves. According to the confession, the task force eventually found the seven wild yak cubs that had been trafficked, but sadly, two of them also died shortly after the transaction.
The task force learned from the suspects that they purchased wild yak calves for breeding with domestic yaks. In this regard, the task force launched an in-depth investigation and found that in Qumalai County, in order to improve the bloodline of domestic yaks, some people went so far as to breed "wild blood yaks" by breeding wild yaks with domestic yaks behind their backs, so as to make huge profits.
In order to advance the handling of cases and deepen judicial linkage, the public security organs invited the procuratorial organs to intervene in advance. After close communication between the procuratorate and the forest police, it was decided to complete the fixing of evidence at the scene of the crime as soon as possible and find the discarded remains of wild yak calves.
On July 25, the task force organized police forces to march to Chaouma, the place where the crime occurred, but the harsh climate and mud swamps everywhere made it difficult for vehicles to move forward.
During this trip, the task force scrapped four motorcycles and a pickup truck, overcame many difficulties, and finally found the tools of the crime and the abandoned remains of wild yaks and calves, and completed the work of fixing evidence.
On August 24, the Qumalai County People's Procuratorate made a decision to approve the arrest of eight criminal suspects on suspicion of endangering precious and endangered wild animals.
Pursue criminal responsibility
Initiating a civil public interest lawsuit
After successfully cracking two major cases of illegal hunting of wild yaks, the work of the task force did not stop. In order to accurately determine the value of the wild yaks involved in the case, they went deep into the local area and actively visited herders and breeding cooperatives, striving to understand the real situation of yak breeding and market value.
After investigation, the task force determined the economic value of each wild yak. According to the relevant laws and regulations, first-class wild animals are subject to criminal liability at a rate of 10 times. Therefore, the total economic value of the 20 wild yaks involved in this case is as high as 10 million yuan, which provides strong evidence support for subsequent criminal proceedings.
As a national first-class key protected wild animal, the wild yak is illegally hunted and separated from its original habitat and original group, and the compensation value of ecological and environmental damage caused by it cannot be ignored. Therefore, while filing criminal charges, the procuratorial organs are also actively preparing for the work related to civil public interest litigation attached to criminal cases.
In order to more accurately assess the compensation value of ecological and environmental damage caused by illegal hunting of wild yaks, the task force specially invited a team of experts from the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct a professional assessment. In the end, they issued the country's first "Appraisal and Evaluation Report on the Compensation Value of Wild Yak Ecological and Environmental Damage", which provided strong support for subsequent public interest litigation.
On February 27, 2023, the Sanjiangyuan District People's Procuratorate indicted the eight defendants, and simultaneously filed a civil public interest lawsuit attached to the criminal case.
On May 9 and May 10, 2023, the Xining Railway Transport Court tried and pronounced the verdict on the defendant in accordance with the law. They were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from four years and six months to 11 years and six months, fined a total of 450,000 yuan, compensated more than 790,000 yuan for the loss of ecological resources, and 88,000 yuan for appraisal and evaluation, and publicly apologized to the public.
Strengthen the protection of genetic resources
Shelter thousands of living beings on the plateau
The successful handling of this case not only demonstrates the judicial authorities' firm determination to protect wild animals, but also provides a useful reference for future cases of compensation for ecological and environmental damage. At the same time, biological research experts have also raised new concerns. According to the survey, in recent years, the range of activities of wild yak and domestic yak has shown a trend of "overlapping" year by year, if the two are allowed to breed and breed, in the long run, the pure wild yak genes will face the risk of being replaced by domestic yaks.
In order to protect the population resources of wild yaks and other precious and endangered wild animals, the Qinghai Provincial People's Procuratorate has carried out a special activity of "strengthening the public welfare judicial protection of wild yaks" throughout the province, helping to improve the habitat and ecological environment of wild animals by giving full play to the procuratorial function. At the same time, the Qumalai County People's Procuratorate also responded positively, conducting in-depth field research and publicity to improve the herdsmen's awareness of wildlife protection.
It is worth mentioning that the two wild yak calves that survived the handling of the case, after evaluation, one has been successfully released into the wild, and the other has been sent to Xining Wildlife Park, where it has been properly resettled and named "Coco". Coco is the child of Hoh Xili, and it is also the reward for the hard work of the task force.
Protecting wildlife and the ecological environment has a long way to go, and protecting the thousands of living beings on the plateau requires not only close cooperation among all departments, but also the light of the rule of law to shine on every inch of the plateau.
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