China investigates claims of panda hunting: Report

BEIJING: China is investigating reports of illegal wildlife trading in the country's southwest where locals were offered huge sums of cash for giant panda pelts, state press reported Monday.   

Local police have found cases of panda bear hunting in Baoxing county in Sichuan province, the China Daily newspaper quoted the State Forestry Administration as saying.   

"We have sent a working group to supervise the investigations and we will prosecute anyone involved," said Cao Qingyao, spokesman for the forestry administration.   

The giant panda bear is on China's list of most endangered species and hunting of it is strictly forbidden.   

The case came to light after an investigative report published last week in the respected Southern Weekend said hunters were killing pandas after unidentified buyers had offered huge sums for their fur.   

The weekly newspaper said the black and white pelts could fetch up to 500,000 yuan (68,000 dollars), thus tempting residents of Baoxing, where average annual incomes are less than 3,000 yuan a year.   

It is believed that 19 pandas have been killed for their skins over the last 20 years in Baoxing, the Southern Weekend said.   

Baoxing, dubbed by Chinese media as home of the pandas, counts 143 living panda bears.   

Scientists estimate 1,590 pandas live in the wild in China, while 239 live in captivity.