Official suspended for illegal bird hunting

The director of the forestry bureau of Leizhou, Guangdong province, was suspended from his post after China Central Television exposed the hunting, selling and eating of migrant birds in the area.

In a TV program that aired Saturday, bird hunters in Leizhou set up nets of several hundred meters long and nearly 3 meters tall in farmlands to catch birds flying south. The birds were sold to poultry dealers and then to restaurants.

According to Southern Metropolis Daily, Leizhou's forestry police carried out spot checks on Sunday of the markets exposed by CCTV and rescued two golden eagles, which are under first-class State protection. The police arrested three suspects, two of whom were held in criminal detention.

The government also made a special inspection into the towns, traffic hubs, major roads, hotels and markets along the migration route of the birds on Sunday.

The joint forces of the bureaus of forestry, public security, industry and commerce, supervision and properties went through 30 restaurants and four markets and recovered more than 300 dead migrant birds and set free more than 200 that were still alive.