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25 August 2004
Tons of smuggled antelope horns seized in Guangdong
A batch of antelope horns smuggled from Russia has been recently seized in
Jieyang city of south China's Guangdong province, according to sources of
the Customs of Shantou city in the province.
Around 8,100 antelope horns, weighing 2.365 tons in total, the sources
noted, had been ferreted out in a business premise, the largest catch of
its kind ever found in the province.
Its owner, failing to produce any document to prove the goods were
purchased legally, had to admit eventually they were smuggled goods from
Russia.
Chinese laws have put antelope, a rare wildlife on the brink of
extinction,
under state protection and request all relevant import and export business
to have a special license. The owner has now been detained for further
investigation.
Police said some of the antelopes are believed to be Saiga antelopes,
which
used to live in China but died out in 1940s due to rampant poaching and
the
shrinkage of their habitats.
Saiga horn is an often-used ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine for
treatment of fever, stroke, headache and dizziness.
As hunting for Saigas for their horns kept increasing with a resultant
rapid decline in the Saiga population worldwide, antelopes have been
listed
as a first-class endangered species under the international convention on
protection of wildlife.
China has ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species and bans the trade of wildlife products.
Source: Xinhua,
Published in People's
Daily Online
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