A businessman in China who ate at least three tigers bought from poachers in the past year has been jailed for 13 years.
The wealthy real estate developer, identified only by his surname Xu, ordered 14 people to deliver dismembered body of a tiger to his hotel in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, according Qinzhou City intermediate People's Court.
He then treated his friends to a meal of tiger meat.
Investigations found Xu witnessed the tiger's death by electric shock in Longmen Township, Leizhou city in Guangdong province on March 13, 2013.
Another two tigers were killed in the same manner on April 21 and May 20, 2013 during which Xu bought the flesh, bones, internal organs and blood at the scene, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
He told the police he had bought the tigers for 440,000 yuan (USD 70,950) each. The origins of the tigers are unknown but are suspected to have been smuggled into the country.
He was arrested after police found a video recording of Xu witnessing the first tiger's death.
At his home, police found animal skeletons and meat, which were later confirmed to be those of a giant gecko and cobra, both endangered animals under government protection in China.
Tiger bones are used in Chinese traditional medicine.
On April 30, the Qinbei District People's Court sentenced Xu to 13 years in jail "for illegally transporting precious and endangered animals" giving him a 1.55 million yuan as penalty for the first instance. But the incident was not reported at the time.
They appealed and the higher Qinzhou City intermediate People's Court upheld the ruling yesterday.
The other 14 people who participated in the transport of the tiger's body received jail terms ranging from five to six years and a half years.
