Wild animals and plants are an important part of the earth's life and natural ecosystem, and their living conditions are closely related to the sustainable development of human beings. In recent years, jiaxing courts have given full play to their adjudication functions to crack down on crimes involving wild animals and plants in accordance with the law, providing a strong judicial guarantee for the effective protection of the ecological environment.
On March 3, the eighth World Wildlife Day, we sorted out a number of typical cases and published them to explain the law.
<h1>Jiaxing's first case of endangering precious and endangered wild animals</h1>
On March 1, the Criminal Law Amendment (XI) came into effect, revising the "crime of illegally purchasing rare and endangered wild animals" to "the crime of endangering rare and endangered wild animals". On March 3, the Haiyan Court held a trial and pronounced judgment on Jiaxing's first case of endangering precious and endangered wild animals, and the defendant Shi Moumou was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 1 year, and fined 2,000 yuan.
The court trial ascertained that since about 2014, defendant Shi X, without applying for wild animal breeding, transportation and business licenses, engaged in the breeding and trafficking of precious and endangered wild turtles through various online platforms, earning the difference in price from them. One day in 2016, after prior contact between defendant Shi X and a farmer in Suzhou, he drove to the local area to purchase a flat-breasted turtle (hawk-billed turtle) from the other party, and transported it back to Haiyan's home with the car, and after raising it for a period of time, he sold the flat-breasted turtle to others at a higher price.
After appraisal, the flat-breasted turtle illegally resold by defendant Shi X was listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and was a rare and endangered wild animal.
The Haiyan court held that defendant Shi X illegally purchased, transported and sold a rare and endangered wild animal flat-breasted turtle without permission, and his behavior has constituted the crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals. The above-mentioned judgment was rendered in accordance with law.
<h1>Poisoned more than 5,000 wild birds and sold them, and was sentenced! </h1>
On January 26, the Pinghu Court sentenced defendant Mao X to 2 years and 5 months imprisonment and a fine of 35,000 yuan for the crime of producing and selling poisonous and harmful food; prohibited from engaging in food production, sales and related activities and hunting activities for 3 years; compensated the national wildlife resources for a total of more than 1.58 million yuan; and publicly apologized in the media at or above the municipal level. It is reported that this is the first public interest litigation case in Jiaxing to apply the Civil Code.
Between 2018 and March 2020, defendant Mao X repeatedly illegally hunted more than 5,000 "three haves" wild birds by throwing homemade poisonous rice. After accounting, the value of these wild birds totaled 1.6626 million yuan. Since then, Mao has sold wild birds to restaurants, farmers market operators, etc., with a total illegal profit of more than 11,000 yuan.
The Pinghu court held that defendant Mao X illegally hunted and destroyed national wildlife resources, and produced and sold wild birds that died by swallowing pesticides, and his conduct had constituted the crime of producing and selling poisonous and harmful food. At the same time, their acts endanger the right to health and life of an unspecified majority of people, harm the societal public interest, and shall bear civil compensation liability in accordance with law. The above-mentioned judgment was rendered in accordance with law.
<h1>Illegal acquisition and sale of spiders, sentenced! </h1>
Since 2016, the online shop operated by Jiang and Mao has been illegally operating wild animals for a long time. In April 2020, public security organs seized Mexican red-knee bird spiders and other wild animals from a certain place in Jiang. After investigation, the above-mentioned Mexican red-knee bird catcher spider was purchased from somewhere in Jiang, and Jiang mou was purchased through an overseas website. It is reported that the Mexican red-knee birdcatcher spider is listed in Appendix II of the CITES Convention. At present, the above-mentioned wild animals are handed over by the police to the Zhejiang and Guangdong Wildlife Rescue Centers.
The Tongxiang court held that defendants Jiang X, Jiang X, and Mao X violated national wildlife protection laws and regulations by illegally purchasing and selling wildlife under national secondary key protection, constituting the crime of illegally acquiring and selling rare and endangered wild animals. According to the seriousness of the crime, the court sentenced defendant Jiang X to 2 years' imprisonment with a suspended sentence of 3 years; defendant Jiang X to 1 year's imprisonment with a suspended sentence of 1 year and 6 months; and defendant Mao X to 10 months' imprisonment, suspended for 1 year, and a fine ranging from 50,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan.
<h1>"Group" slingshot hit birds, 3 people were sentenced! </h1>
Between December 2019 and January 2020, defendants Zhao Moulong, Zhu Moufei, and Qiu Moufeng violated hunting regulations by repeatedly using night lighting to hunt wild birds in the wild woods and bamboo forests of Dingqiao Town, Haining City, and the birds caught were killed by defendant Zhao Moulong, washed, and put in the refrigerator for freezing, some of which have been eaten.
The public security organs seized and seized 127 birds of various types that had been hunted and killed from the home of defendant Zhao Moulong, and after identification, 3 of them could not determine the source of specific species, and the remaining 124 were included in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals Protected by the State that are Beneficial or Have Important Economic and Scientific Research Value".
During the trial of the case, the three defendants paid a total of 57,200 yuan in compensation for ecological restoration.
After trial, the Haining court held that the defendants Zhao Moulong, Zhu Moufei, and Qiu Moufeng violated hunting regulations by using prohibited methods to hunt and destroy wildlife resources, the circumstances were serious, and their acts had constituted the crime of illegal hunting, so they sentenced the defendants Zhao Moulong, Zhu Moufei, and Qiu Moufeng to 8 months imprisonment with a 1-year suspended sentence, confiscated the seized crime tools and the birds they had hunted, and at the same time prohibited the three defendants from engaging in wildlife management and utilization activities during the probationary period of probation.
<h1>Illegal breeding of macaques, sentenced! </h1>
In January last year, when the new crown pneumonia epidemic was at its most strained, the Tongxiang police stopped a private car with a Hangzhou license plate when they set up a card check at the Chongfu card point of National Highway 320, and just opened the trunk, a monkey jumped out of it and disappeared into the night.
After investigation, in November 2016, defendant Yao purchased a monkey from Chen (handled in a separate case) on the Kuaishou live broadcast platform for 15,000 yuan and raised it at home. After identification, the monkey involved in the case was Macaacamlatta, which was included in the second level of the List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection, and was also listed in Appendix II of the CITES Convention (2019 Edition).
The Tongxiang court held that defendant Yao's conduct had constituted the crime of illegally purchasing rare and endangered wild animals. Defendant Yao X truthfully confessed after his return to the case, and admitted guilt and accepted punishment, he may be given a lighter punishment and a suspended sentence applied in accordance with law. Accordingly, defendant Yao was sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment, suspended for 1 year, and fined 10,000 yuan in accordance with law.