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YINCHUAN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Forest police in China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have five suspected poachers in custody after the group posted pictures of their illegal haul on social media.
Liupanshan Forest Police were alerted to videos and pictures of golden pheasants, a second-class state protected species, which had been shared on the messaging service WeChat by a group of people from Guyuan city.
After combing the videos and pictures for any clues, the police were able to determine the identity of the four suspects currently in custody.Nine live golden pheasants were also confiscated during the raid Monday in Jingyuan county.
On Monday evening, another suspect handed himself into the police, claiming that he had hunted a barking deer, or muntjac, which is also under state protection.
Police later found the wounded animal at his home. It died despite treatment.
According to Liupanshan forestry bureau, heavy snow has forced wildlife to descend the mountain to seek food, which mens they are at more risk from poachers.
The bureau has set up aid stations and distributed food across the mountain, to help the area's wildlife during the extreme weather.
