Police rescue endangered Bengal tiger cub from suspected Chinese smugglers
Six men arrested in Sanmenxia, Henan province, after allegedly buying the animal for about HK$312,000 from online dealers, say police
Police in central China rescued a Bengal tiger cub from a group of six suspected smugglers on Wednesday.
Although the endangered tigers are protected by Chinese law, the smugglers “bought” the tiger cub for 250,000 yuan (about HK$312,000) from online “dealers”, police in Henan province, central China, said on their official Sina Weibo website on Thursday.
Police in Sanmenxia, where the cub was rescued, told the South China Morning Post that they were still investigating the case, but did not know where the cub had been smuggled from, or how the suspected smugglers had “bought” it online.
“The case has not been solved; that’s all I can say for the moment,” a policewoman, identified only as Zhang, told the Post.
However, one local Chinese newspaper reported a policeman saying that the tiger cub had been smuggled into Sanmenxia from Jiaozuo.
Initial reports said that Henan police had arrested all six suspected members of the smuggling gang. But another Sanmenxia police officer said that one alleged smuggler, from Shandong, was still on the run.
