Accused Panda Killers May Face Death Penalty

Chinese police have arrested five people suspected of killing giant pandas and golden monkeys, rare animals whose killers can face the death penalty.

Police in southern China’s Hunan province confiscated five golden monkey pelts from two men from northern Gansu province who were arrested Feb. 6, the state-run Xinhua news agency said Wednesday.

The police contacted their counterparts in Gansu, who found another five golden monkey pelts and two panda pelts in a farmer’s home. Members of the farmer’s family confessed to killing ten golden monkeys and two pandas, Xinhua said.

China has no more than 1,000 pandas left in the wild and only several thousand golden monkeys, Xinhua said.