A Xiaochuan golden monkey grabbed the chain in the air and swung to the edge of the glass, opening her mouth and shouting "Ahhh". Many adults gathered together and sat on a high place, carefully looking at the humans outside the glass. Not far from them, there are several red pandas "neighbors".
These wild Sichuan golden monkeys and red pandas that should have lived in nature were rescued by the Ya'an Tianquan Forest Police in Sichuan Province from Shandong and Anhui Provinces. They are currently placed in a zoo in Ya'an .
According to a report by Sichuan police on February 22, in the "12.3" case of extremely harmful rare and endangered wild animals, the police arrested 15 criminal suspects, seized 18 Sichuan golden monkeys, the national first-class protected wild animal, and 17 national second-class protected wild animal, the country. According to reports, this case is also a case supervised by the Ministry of Public Security.
According to the police, in this major case, an illegal secret transaction chain of wild animals has been formed: illegal hunters poached Sichuan golden monkeys and red pandas, and sold them to the middleman Li and his son for a price of 1,500 yuan to tens of thousands of yuan; Li and his son sold these wild animals to five private zoos in Tongling, Anhui and other places; the zoos were "whitewashed" and sold at a high price, at a price of 80,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan.
In this case, at least one Sichuan golden monkey and 10 red pandas died unfortunately.
On June 22, 2021, the rescued golden monkey was temporarily placed in a zoo in Ya'an. Photo by Yang Xue, reporter of the Beijing News
"Emergency Rescue"
The first one to be rescued were three little pandas.
Late at night on December 3, 2020, at the Yakang Expressway Ya'an Tianquan Expressway service area and Tianquan Expressway toll station entrance, the police officers in charge of the case of Tianquan Forest Public Security in Ya'an City, Sichuan stopped two business vehicles.
The police officer in charge of the case Feng Zhiyuan said that when he pulled open the carriage of one of the business cars, a foul stinking came to his face. He pulled out the cage in the carriage and lifted the black cover. Under the light, he could see the little pandas huddled in the cage, with three pairs of round eyes looking in panic.
Li Mouhua, a person involved in the case who is over 60 years old, admitted to the police that they just bought the three little pandas. Li Mouhua also said that he and his son Li Mouqiu and others set off from Mianyang that afternoon and drove two business cars to Ya'an. They made an appointment with others to trade near the exit of the Tianquan County Expressway, and were arrested by the police as soon as the transaction was completed.
After controlling Li Mouhua and his son, the police rushed to Baiyu Village, Fangshui Town, Mianyang overnight, which was a breeding farm where Li Mouhua temporarily kept wild animals.
In Li Mouhua's temporary breeding farm, the police officers in charge of the case found four live national first-class protected animal Sichuan golden monkeys, and another one was dead.
According to Feng Zhiyuan, Li Mouhua jointly opened a breeding farm with others in his early years, and he raised monkeys. In 2006, he was sentenced to more than ten years for illegally selling wild macaque .
After being released from prison for the first time, not long after Li Mouhua was sentenced to several years in prison for illegally selling wild red pandas and was not released until July 6, 2019.
As the core figure of this case, Li Mouhua's core resources are a large number of connections in his hands. According to the police, Li Mouhua has been in this industry for about 20 years, and has relationships with his superiors and subordinates. These people have contact information such as QQ groups.
has such social relations and the "professional ability" to breed animals. After being released from prison in 2019, Li Mouhua quickly returned to his old career. "He claimed that he had a 'people' who paid a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan to ask him to raise animals, but he did not agree."
According to the police, as early as April 2020, it was discovered that Li Mouhua and his son and others had illegally purchased and sold a large number of precious and endangered wild animals in various cities and prefectures in Sichuan for a long time and made a profit. After a year and a half of follow-up investigation, the police decided to close the network.
Wild Sichuan golden monkey rescued by the police. Photo provided by the interviewee
Poaching "old hunter"
According to Li Mouhua's explanation to the police, the above three little pandas were purchased from a "hunter" Long Moujun.
Long Moujun is a senior "old hunter" who specializes in collecting pandas near Kangding . According to police investigation, Long Moujun is good at using rope condoms, and he set up condoms in the mountains to hunt many of the pandas.In addition, he also purchased wild red pandas from other hunters and then sold them to Li Mouhua. "If you save up three or four, you will sell them to Li Mouhua and transfer them to Li Mouhua's breeding farm in Fangshui Town."
In addition to Long Moujun, another senior Ma Moucao who supplies Li Mouhua, is also a senior "old hunter". Ma Mou Cao mainly caught poaching Sichuan golden monkeys in Pingwu County, Sichuan Province. Since April 2020, Ma Moucao has successively sold 18 Sichuan-gold monkeys to Li Mouhua.
Once, Ma Moucao captured 5 Sichuan golden monkeys, one big and one small, and only collected 4 Li Mouhua's money, "buy 4 get 1 free".
In the eyes of the two, Li Mouhua made extensive friends and was generous. More importantly, he could always ship the goods quickly, which also made transactions between them more and more frequent.
Police investigation found that the price of Li Mouhua's acquisition of the red panda from these illegal hunters was about 1,500 yuan to 3,000 yuan, and the average price of Sichuan golden monkey was less than 10,000 yuan.
Li Mouhua knows what business he is doing. During the transaction, he will use code words to communicate information, such as " long-tail " refers to Sichuan golden monkey, and "kitten" refers to the little panda. When "working", a roadway car and a truck are his standard equipment.
Zhu Hao, a police officer in charge of the case in Tianquan Forest Police Brigade in Ya'an City, Sichuan Province, said that when Li Mouhua received the goods from the hunters, he would drive two business vehicles. "After picking up the golden monkey, I will send it to my own farm first. When I find my next home and need long-distance transportation, I will use a large truck to transport it across provinces."
According to the police, on the transportation road of one or two thousand kilometers, Li Mouhua will keep the distance between the opening vehicle and the transport vehicle "must have a service area or highway exit", usually driving at night. If the front lane car encounters cross-checking, the rear transport car will immediately drive off the highway.
Within two days after Li Mouhua was arrested, Ma Moucao and Long Moujun were arrested one after another by the police.
Wild little panda caught by the police. Photo provided by the interviewee
5 zoos in many places were involved in the case
Police investigation found that in the "12·3" case, the little pandas sold from Li Mouhua basically flowed to Shandong Laizhou Jinbo Zoo, Shandong Yantai Longkou Zoo, Shandong Linyi City Lanling Baoshan Former Zoo, and Jiangsu Nanjing Jinniu Lake Zoo.
In April 2021, the police in charge of the case arrested Liu Moubo, the head of Laizhou Jinbo Zoo, and Lu Moubo, the legal representative of Longkou Zoo in Yantai.
Gu Mouqiang, the former owner of Lanling Baoshan Zoo in Linyi City, Shandong Province, was forced to surrender to the Haogou Police Station of the Hanqiao Branch of Suzhou Public Security Bureau, Anhui Province. After Guan Mou, the head of Nanjing Jinniu Lake Zoo, was arrested, he had been handed over to the local public security organs.
The reporter called the above four zoos, except for Jinbo Zoo in Laizhou, Shandong, no one was interviewed.
"Liu was indeed our employee before, responsible for animal breeding, but (buying wild red pandas) was his personal behavior." A relevant person in charge of Laizhou Jinbo Zoo said that the matter had nothing to do with the park and the park was not aware of it.
And all Sichuan golden monkeys were bought by Anhui Tongling Zoo.
According to the police, Li Mouhua found the administrator of the Tongling Zoo in Anhui Province through a friend's introduction and proposed to sell illegally obtained wild animals to the other party. "For risk considerations, the other party did not agree at the beginning. Li Mouhua brought honey, Cordyceps and other local specialties to the door many times, and finally gained the other party's trust."
On January 15, 2021, police officers from the Forest Police Brigade of Tianquan County drove more than 2,000 kilometers overnight and arrested Shen Mou, the actual person in charge of Tongling Zoo, and three others.
A week later, 13 Sichuan golden monkeys involved in the case at Tongling Zoo were taken back to Bifengxia, Ya'an City for foster care. So far, a total of 18 Sichuan golden monkeys were rescued, including one dead body.
Beijing News reporters checked the China Judgment Documents Network and found that Shen's father, Shen Mouxi, was sentenced to five years in prison in May 2014 for illegally transporting precious and endangered wild animals.
reporter tried to contact Tongling Zoo many times. The mobile phone number on the zoo registration information was unanswered, and the landline showed an empty number.
According to the police, 7 of the 15 people involved in the case are the person in charge of the zoo’s acquisition.
On June 22, 2021, the rescued little panda was placed in a zoo in Ya'an. Photo by Yang Xue, a reporter from the Beijing News.
"whitewashed" golden monkey sold for 500,000 yuan
It is understood that, including the Tongling Zoo in Anhui Province, the five zoos involved in this case are all private.
Tongling Zoo was previously known as "the largest Siberian tiger and golden monkey breeding base in Anhui Province". In 2014, Shen Ying, the then director of the zoo, told the media that "there are more than 800 animals of all sizes and sizes in the park."
According to relevant regulations in my country, whether in public or private zoos, you must first obtain a "Wild Animal Domestic and Breeding License" to legally breed all wild animals within the prescribed scope.
"The types and quantities must be registered, and according to requirements, they must be inspected on-site. In addition, new births and deaths must be reported." An expert in the forestry system of Sichuan Province introduced that on the basis of legal domestication and breeding, if animal transactions are involved, the seller also needs to obtain a "Wild Animal Business and Utilization License". "Now in order to strengthen supervision, in addition to having a business license, each transaction must obtain a corresponding approval document."
National first- and second-level protected animals need to be sold, and there are often more stringent conditions. "Class II protected animals require provincial approvals, and level I require national approvals." The above experts further explained that as long as there is an approval, it is legal to sell these animals. "The relevant procedures are complete, and the buyer will not be able to investigate where the animals come from." This explanation of
has been confirmed by the downstream buyer. "We bought golden monkeys from Tongling Zoo, and all the procedures are complete." Xie Ran (pseudonym), a staff member of a public zoo in China, said that after the monkeys were bought, they also suspected the source problem after a period of observation. "There is a difference between artificial breeding and wild catch in the animal behavior and other behaviors. But because the procedures are complete, we can't say anything."
"Golden monkeys are not easy to reproduce, and some units that are capable of breeding may not be sold. . At present, Tongling Zoo is basically the only unit on the market that has a legal sale of golden monkeys. "Xie Ran further explained, "At that time, we wanted to buy some animals, so we searched nationwide, and the others were fine, but the golden monkeys are basically only available for sale in this store, so the price was basically hyped up by them."
According to a reporter from the Beijing News, the current market price of the red panda with legal procedures is 80,000 to 100,000 yuan, and the Sichuan golden monkeys are 500,000 yuan.
"These animals entered a private zoo and then sold them to soar. The core reason is that they were 'bleached'." Wang Yong, captain of the Tianquan County Forest Police Brigade, said that taking Tongling Zoo as an example, there were many rare wild animals sold in 2020. The largest recent transaction in Tongling Zoo was to sell 5 golden monkeys for 2.49 million yuan. "Every formalities, including this transaction, are complete." More than
senior forestry system practitioners believe that the ability of private zoos to "bleach" illegally sourced wild animals so easily is related to the failure to form a relatively detailed management system.
"Some places will do better, such as building an online platform, and all animals must be updated on the platform. Whether it is birth or death, experts must go to the site to verify. The total number of animals must also be checked regularly." A staff member of the Sichuan Forestry System said, but in reality, not every province or city can do it at present. To plug the loopholes, "it must establish a detailed and timely update ledger."
Beijing News reporter Yang Xue Editor Yuan Guoli Proofreading Liu Jun
In addition, he also purchased wild red pandas from other hunters and then sold them to Li Mouhua. "If you save up three or four, you will sell them to Li Mouhua and transfer them to Li Mouhua's breeding farm in Fangshui Town."In addition to Long Moujun, another senior Ma Moucao who supplies Li Mouhua, is also a senior "old hunter". Ma Mou Cao mainly caught poaching Sichuan golden monkeys in Pingwu County, Sichuan Province. Since April 2020, Ma Moucao has successively sold 18 Sichuan-gold monkeys to Li Mouhua.
Once, Ma Moucao captured 5 Sichuan golden monkeys, one big and one small, and only collected 4 Li Mouhua's money, "buy 4 get 1 free".
In the eyes of the two, Li Mouhua made extensive friends and was generous. More importantly, he could always ship the goods quickly, which also made transactions between them more and more frequent.
Police investigation found that the price of Li Mouhua's acquisition of the red panda from these illegal hunters was about 1,500 yuan to 3,000 yuan, and the average price of Sichuan golden monkey was less than 10,000 yuan.
Li Mouhua knows what business he is doing. During the transaction, he will use code words to communicate information, such as " long-tail " refers to Sichuan golden monkey, and "kitten" refers to the little panda. When "working", a roadway car and a truck are his standard equipment.
Zhu Hao, a police officer in charge of the case in Tianquan Forest Police Brigade in Ya'an City, Sichuan Province, said that when Li Mouhua received the goods from the hunters, he would drive two business vehicles. "After picking up the golden monkey, I will send it to my own farm first. When I find my next home and need long-distance transportation, I will use a large truck to transport it across provinces."
According to the police, on the transportation road of one or two thousand kilometers, Li Mouhua will keep the distance between the opening vehicle and the transport vehicle "must have a service area or highway exit", usually driving at night. If the front lane car encounters cross-checking, the rear transport car will immediately drive off the highway.
Within two days after Li Mouhua was arrested, Ma Moucao and Long Moujun were arrested one after another by the police.
Wild little panda caught by the police. Photo provided by the interviewee
5 zoos in many places were involved in the case
Police investigation found that in the "12·3" case, the little pandas sold from Li Mouhua basically flowed to Shandong Laizhou Jinbo Zoo, Shandong Yantai Longkou Zoo, Shandong Linyi City Lanling Baoshan Former Zoo, and Jiangsu Nanjing Jinniu Lake Zoo.
In April 2021, the police in charge of the case arrested Liu Moubo, the head of Laizhou Jinbo Zoo, and Lu Moubo, the legal representative of Longkou Zoo in Yantai.
Gu Mouqiang, the former owner of Lanling Baoshan Zoo in Linyi City, Shandong Province, was forced to surrender to the Haogou Police Station of the Hanqiao Branch of Suzhou Public Security Bureau, Anhui Province. After Guan Mou, the head of Nanjing Jinniu Lake Zoo, was arrested, he had been handed over to the local public security organs.
The reporter called the above four zoos, except for Jinbo Zoo in Laizhou, Shandong, no one was interviewed.
"Liu was indeed our employee before, responsible for animal breeding, but (buying wild red pandas) was his personal behavior." A relevant person in charge of Laizhou Jinbo Zoo said that the matter had nothing to do with the park and the park was not aware of it.
And all Sichuan golden monkeys were bought by Anhui Tongling Zoo.
According to the police, Li Mouhua found the administrator of the Tongling Zoo in Anhui Province through a friend's introduction and proposed to sell illegally obtained wild animals to the other party. "For risk considerations, the other party did not agree at the beginning. Li Mouhua brought honey, Cordyceps and other local specialties to the door many times, and finally gained the other party's trust."
On January 15, 2021, police officers from the Forest Police Brigade of Tianquan County drove more than 2,000 kilometers overnight and arrested Shen Mou, the actual person in charge of Tongling Zoo, and three others.
A week later, 13 Sichuan golden monkeys involved in the case at Tongling Zoo were taken back to Bifengxia, Ya'an City for foster care. So far, a total of 18 Sichuan golden monkeys were rescued, including one dead body.
Beijing News reporters checked the China Judgment Documents Network and found that Shen's father, Shen Mouxi, was sentenced to five years in prison in May 2014 for illegally transporting precious and endangered wild animals.
reporter tried to contact Tongling Zoo many times. The mobile phone number on the zoo registration information was unanswered, and the landline showed an empty number.
According to the police, 7 of the 15 people involved in the case are the person in charge of the zoo’s acquisition.
On June 22, 2021, the rescued little panda was placed in a zoo in Ya'an. Photo by Yang Xue, a reporter from the Beijing News.
"whitewashed" golden monkey sold for 500,000 yuan
It is understood that, including the Tongling Zoo in Anhui Province, the five zoos involved in this case are all private.
Tongling Zoo was previously known as "the largest Siberian tiger and golden monkey breeding base in Anhui Province". In 2014, Shen Ying, the then director of the zoo, told the media that "there are more than 800 animals of all sizes and sizes in the park."
According to relevant regulations in my country, whether in public or private zoos, you must first obtain a "Wild Animal Domestic and Breeding License" to legally breed all wild animals within the prescribed scope.
"The types and quantities must be registered, and according to requirements, they must be inspected on-site. In addition, new births and deaths must be reported." An expert in the forestry system of Sichuan Province introduced that on the basis of legal domestication and breeding, if animal transactions are involved, the seller also needs to obtain a "Wild Animal Business and Utilization License". "Now in order to strengthen supervision, in addition to having a business license, each transaction must obtain a corresponding approval document."
National first- and second-level protected animals need to be sold, and there are often more stringent conditions. "Class II protected animals require provincial approvals, and level I require national approvals." The above experts further explained that as long as there is an approval, it is legal to sell these animals. "The relevant procedures are complete, and the buyer will not be able to investigate where the animals come from." This explanation of
has been confirmed by the downstream buyer. "We bought golden monkeys from Tongling Zoo, and all the procedures are complete." Xie Ran (pseudonym), a staff member of a public zoo in China, said that after the monkeys were bought, they also suspected the source problem after a period of observation. "There is a difference between artificial breeding and wild catch in the animal behavior and other behaviors. But because the procedures are complete, we can't say anything."
"Golden monkeys are not easy to reproduce, and some units that are capable of breeding may not be sold. . At present, Tongling Zoo is basically the only unit on the market that has a legal sale of golden monkeys. "Xie Ran further explained, "At that time, we wanted to buy some animals, so we searched nationwide, and the others were fine, but the golden monkeys are basically only available for sale in this store, so the price was basically hyped up by them."
According to a reporter from the Beijing News, the current market price of the red panda with legal procedures is 80,000 to 100,000 yuan, and the Sichuan golden monkeys are 500,000 yuan.
"These animals entered a private zoo and then sold them to soar. The core reason is that they were 'bleached'." Wang Yong, captain of the Tianquan County Forest Police Brigade, said that taking Tongling Zoo as an example, there were many rare wild animals sold in 2020. The largest recent transaction in Tongling Zoo was to sell 5 golden monkeys for 2.49 million yuan. "Every formalities, including this transaction, are complete." More than
senior forestry system practitioners believe that the ability of private zoos to "bleach" illegally sourced wild animals so easily is related to the failure to form a relatively detailed management system.
"Some places will do better, such as building an online platform, and all animals must be updated on the platform. Whether it is birth or death, experts must go to the site to verify. The total number of animals must also be checked regularly." A staff member of the Sichuan Forestry System said, but in reality, not every province or city can do it at present. To plug the loopholes, "it must establish a detailed and timely update ledger."
Beijing News reporter Yang Xue Editor Yuan Guoli Proofreading Liu Jun
