A wealthy businessman bought three endangered tigers in a remote province of China, then watched them being electrocuted and ate their flesh.
He is reported to have eaten at least three tiger penises, which some believe work as an aphrodisiac.
The man, surnamed Xu, also made wine from their blood, and shared it with accomplices.
He was jailed for 13 years after he and the rest of the group watched the animals being killed.
According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Xu told his accomplices: ‘If anyone asks, say it is beef, horse or big cat meat.’
Some in China believe tiger meat to have health-giving properties, which has driven a booming trade in tiger products as the country has become wealthier.
Xu was arrested after one of his deals was recorded by someone nearby who reported it to the police.
The report did not say where the tigers came from, only that they were suspected of being smuggled into the country.
Xu was originally sentenced in April and then appealed, but this week a court rejected that appeal, Xinhua said.
China is home to tigers, mainly in the remote northeast, but their numbers have shrunk drastically due to poaching and habitat loss despite government conservation efforts.
The South China tiger, one of the world’s smallest subspecies and the only one native to central and southern China, is feared to be extinct in the wild.
Source; Metro.co.uk
