Three men in Zhuhai are facing criminal charges for the barbaric butchering of an endangered Chinese white dolphin last month, according to officials with the Administration of Ocean and Fisheries of Guangdong province.
Reports circulating online indicate the men, all fishermen, are claiming that the cetacean was already dead when they found it, although – even if this is true – they may still face trial, as the sale or purchase of endangered animal parts is illegal under Chinese law.
Photos of the butchered and beheaded mammal caused pandemonium on social media last month (and rightly so), pressuring local officials to investigate the dolphin’s death. Photo below (viewer discretion advised):
The last several months have been decidedly rough for cetaceans off China’s southern coast, with a dead baby porpoise washing up in southern Guangdong in February, a pregnant sperm whale perishing near Huizhou in mid-March and, most recently, a dead whale washing up 60 kilometers southeast of Hainan’s provincial capital of Haikou.
READ MORE: The Rise of Whale and Dolphin Captivity in China
[Images via Tencent News]
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