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TAIYUAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Police in north China's Shanxi Province arrested an individual suspected of illegally buying endangered wild animals, local police said Wednesday.
Forestry police were tipped off in early January that the suspect, identified only by his surname Wang, was illegally purchasing wild animals in Yangcheng County. He was detained on Jan. 19.
During the raid at the suspect's house, police seized 10 dead golden pheasants, one dead bubo-bubo (Eurasian eagle-owl), and 14 other dead animals including wild boars and leopard cats, which he had stored in a freezer.
Both the golden pheasant and bubo-bubo are second-class state protected species in China.
Initial investigation indicates that the suspect, a native of central China's Henan Province, opened a wild animal breeding farm in Yangcheng in 2012 and had been using it as a cover for illegal trading.
The investigation continues.
