Elephant News, Reporter of Oriental Today, Li Wei
On June 30, the reporter learned from the Xinmi City Public Security Bureau that recently, the Forest Police Brigade of the Xinmi City Public Security Bureau investigated and dealt with a case of illegal acquisition of rare and endangered wild animals, and arrested the suspects Wang and Li.
In late June, the forest police brigade received an alarm from the masses that Wang Mou, a resident of Quliang Town, Xinmi City, was suspected of illegally trading wild animals. After receiving the alarm, the police quickly dispatched to find a complete turtle shell in Wang's home, and found a large number of videos and photos of raising suspected endangered wild tortoises in his mobile phone. Later, it was identified by the Forest Public Security Judicial Appraisal Center of the State Forestry Administration: the animals in the turtle shell, photos and videos are Sulcata tortoise, leopard tortoise and Hermann tortoise, which belong to the tortoise family and are protected animals in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
After investigation, during 2019, Wang Mou illegally purchased 3 tortoises (1 Sulcata tortoise, 1 leopard tortoise and 1 Herman tortoise) without any wild animal domestication and breeding permits, and raised them as pets at home, the latter died, and the shell was stored at home. At the beginning of 2021, Wang sold the other two tortoises he illegally acquired through the Internet and made thousands of yuan from them.
Through further investigation, the police learned that Wang illegally sold one of the tortoises to a man in Shangqiu Minquan County, Li, and then the police seized the tortoise in the home of Li in Minquan County, and Li did not handle any wild animal domestication and breeding permit procedures, and now the police have seized a suspected Herman tortoise purchased by Li in accordance with the law and made further identification.
According to Article 341 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, whoever illegally hunts or kills rare or endangered wild animals under key national protection, or illegally acquires, transports or sells rare or endangered wild animals under key national protection and their products, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also be fined;
At present, the criminal suspects Wang mou and Li mou have been criminally detained by the public security organs, and the case is being further investigated.
The police remind that the purchase of pets needs to be cautious, and these hidden dangers should be noted:
As rare species such as snakes, lizards, and turtles become new favorites, due to the limitations of species cognition, the risk of suspected illegal crimes in purchasing wildlife under national key protection is also increasing. Second, most of the new pets have not been domesticated, and the breeders do not have a good grasp of their habits, which may cause physical harm. If the operator does not have sales qualifications, without the approval of the animal epidemic prevention department, it is easy to buy sick pets, which is easy to cause infectious diseases. According to the relevant laws and regulations of the state, if the purchased animal is sick and causes a major epidemic without quarantine approval and permission, it will also be investigated for criminal liability. (Clue provided by Zhao Jingya, Zhou Liyuan)