Man jailed for three months for hunting 87 protected toads

A man was sentenced to three months in jail for hunting 87 protected toads, local Chinese media says.

The 48-year-old, with the surname of Wang, was convicted in China's central province of Henan of breaching the hunting regulations and “jeopardising wildlife animals resources” in the sanctuary areas during a banned period, the Dahe Daily reported.

He was detained by highway patrols in early July while hunting toads in a local river, the newspaper said. He was found to have caught 87 toads, which were later released unharmed.

The man, from Queshan county in Zhumadian city, pleaded guilty at the trial, but claimed that he did not know that toads were protected animals, the newspaper said.

Secretions from toads’ skins are a popular ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and Wang told police that he had planned to sell the toads on the black market.

Toads are not listed among the country’s endangered animals, but more than 1,700 different species of wildlife have been protected by a recent provincial regulation, covering such things as sparrows, frogs, geckos, pheasants and snakes.