Man who killed protected black-necked crane investigated

A protected black-necked crane that was tagged as part of a monitoring program was illegally hunted and eaten in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, police said on Monday.

Meigu county police recently received a call from the Institute of Black-necked Crane Migration Ecology at Beijing Forestry University, reporting that a tagged black-necked crane had been found dead.

Police immediately established a special task force to investigate the case. Despite the remote location and sparse population, police conducted extensive interviews and obtained clues from a local resident. A suspect surnamed Jike was identified and detained.

During questioning, Jike confessed to capturing and killing the black-necked crane. He said he spotted the bird by a river then killed, cooked and ate it.

The Sichuan Nanshan Environmental Damage Judicial Appraisal Center confirmed the bird was a black-necked crane, a first-class nationally protected species. The bird was being tracked as part of a research project conducted by the institute.

Jike has been detained on charges of endangering precious and endangered wildlife. The case is being further investigated.

The black-necked crane is a species found only in China and is known as the "Highland Fairy" and the "Highland Divine Bird."

Those involved in the illegal hunting, killing, acquisition, transportation, and sale of nationally protected precious and endangered wildlife can face imprisonment of up to 10 years, along with fines and property confiscation, depending on the severity of the offense.