Two men imprisoned for trading endangered monkeys

XI'AN -- Two Chinese men were sentenced by a court in Northwest China's Shaanxi province Tuesday to more than ten years each for trading hundreds of endangered macaques.

Xu Shikui and Bi Tao, who were both members of an organized gang, were sentenced to 13 years, and ten and a half years respectively for purchasing, transporting and selling macaques, an endangered short-tail monkey, according to the People's Court of Chang'an District in Xi'an city.

The court said Xu Shikui had traded nearly 400 macaques between March 2000 and June 2002, while Bi Tao had illegally transported and sold more than 1,200 macaques between June 2001 to December 2002.

They sold the monkeys to hospitals, medical research institutes and companies engaged in testing on animals in big cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Guangzhou, it said.

They made in excess of 2,000 yuan (about $323) for each monkey sold.

Xu Shikui was caught in May 2014, while Bi Tao gave himself up to police in September. Other members of the gang were sentenced to between 4 and 14 years in prison in 2004.

Macaques are a level-II endangered animal under state protection in China. Enditem