Nine people are being prosecuted for poisoning endangered animals including 290 swans in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, media reported on Sunday.
The People's Procuratorate of Xilin Gol League on Friday prosecuted the nine people who poisoned 290 swans, one white spoonbill, some 50 other waterfowls and more than 200 birds in October 2016, news site thepaper.cn reported Sunday, adding that these people killed the State-protected animals for profit.
The procuratorate also charged one of the nine people with illegal possession of guns, said the report.
The swans were found dead in a lake in Xilin Gol League, where migrating swans had arrived in late October 2016. Tests on the dead birds revealed that they were killed by carbofuran, a type of pesticide.
Swans and white spoonbills are under China's second-class State protection.
"Most of the dead birds end up at restaurants," Sun Quanhui, a senior scientific advisor at the international NGO World Animal Protection, told the Global Times, adding that the poisoned birds also affect human health.
The case sparked heated discussions on Chinese social platforms, with many calling for severe punishment for the offenders. "People with such cruelty are even worse than animals," said Sina Weibo user heixiaohei.
"People who buy these animals should receive the same punishment as those who kill them," noted Sina Weibo user Victoria689.
In 2013, 17 swans were found to be poisoned in the wetlands of Dongting Lake in Central China's Hunan Province, and the same year, a farmer surnamed Sun was detained for poisoning more than 20 migrant birds including wild geese and ducks in the same region.
