Four men who were arrested earlier for illegally transporting rare animals in China have appealed after being declared as guilty

The four entertainers used macaque monkeys in their shows and were arrested last July in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province.

The men were identified as Dao Qingshan, Su Guoyin, Bao Fengshan and Tian Junan, all from Xinye. Mudanjiang Forestry Public Security Bureau authorities said the entertainers did not have animal transportation licenses resulting their conviction on September 23 in a Dongjingcheng county special court.

Like Us on Facebook

On the other hand, the Henan-based Monkey Art Association supported the four and sought to find legal representations for them. A total of nine lawyers based in Shanxi, Henan and Sichuan offered their services for the entertainers.

A Shanghai-based criminal lawyer, Ruan Chuansheng, said the men have the right appeal their conviction to the higher courts. He also said people can be punished if they kill, capture or transport wild animals. As the macaque monkeys are under law protection, the four has committed illegal transportation as they were not able to secure the appropriate license.

The four were later set free without imposing sanctions. Their monkeys were also returned, At some point in the return, one of the animals died. The handler, Bao Fengshan, said the 12 year old animal named Dan was the best performer among the 3 animals he owned.

Bao said he was able to earn money to support his children’s education from the monkey’s shows. He also said the monkey can do many tricks and that the two others could not manage to perform without Dan.

Dan was buried in Mudanjiang after Bao was not allowed to take the dead animal with him inside an intercity bus. He was supposed to take Dan back to Xinye and bury the monkey there.

Xinye holds a long list of monkey performances. The show staging monkeys were even considered an art and was included in the 2009 cultural heritage list of the province.

TagsMudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, Xinye, Dao Qingshan, Su Guoyin, Bao Fengshen, Tian Junan, Dongjingcheng county, Monkey Art Association, Henen Province, Mudanjiang Forestry Public Security Bureau, Sichuan, Ruan Chuansheng, macaque monkeys