Chinese Man Sentenced To 13 Years For Eating Tigers

A man in China has been sentenced to 13 years in jail for "purchasing and eating three tigers," reports Xinhua News Agency.

The man, surnamed Xu, reportedly ordered a team of 14 people to "deliver the dismembered body of a tiger to his hotel in Nanning (in China's southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)," and then "treated his friends to a meal of tiger meat."

Xu had apparently witnessed the death by electric shock of three tigers in 2013, after which he purchased the tigers for 440,000 yuan (approximately $70,949).

According to Xinhua News Agency, "the origins of the tigers are unknown but are suspected to have been smuggled into the country."

Xu was sentenced in April 2013 by the Qinbei District People's Court, after police discovered a video of the first tiger's death, with Xu at the scene. At one man's home, police found the skeletal remains and flesh of a giant gecko and cobra, both endangered species that are under Chinese government protection.

On Monday, December 29, the Qinzhou City Intermediate People's Court rejected the man's appeal and upheld the sentence. The 14 others responsible for the transport of the tiger to Xu's hotel room also received jail terms.