Authorities in China have sentenced a wealthy businessman to 13 years in prison for buying and eating three tigers, which he had slaughtered and dismembered as he and his friends watched.

The real-estate developer, identified in court records only by the surname Xu, had "a special hobby of grilling tiger bones, boning tiger paws, storing tiger penis, eating tiger meat and drinking tiger blood alcohol," Xinhua news agency reported when Xu's case went on trial in June.

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Tiger bones are a common ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, trafficking and habitat destruction have decimated the tiger population over the past 100 years, going from more than 100,000 to approximately 3,000.

According to local news reports, Xu organized three trips last year for a total of 15 people, including himself, to Leizhou in the southern province of Guangdong. For a "huge amount of money," Xu bought the tigers, which were killed and dismembered as the party watched, reports Chinese state-run news site Gxnews.com.cn.

Earlier this year, a court in Guangxi convicted the 15 of "illegally transporting precious and endangered wild animal products," however, the conviction was not reported at the time, according to Shanghai Daily.

One of the people on the trip made the mistake of filming the entire process of the tiger slaughter on his mobile phone, which was confiscated by the police and used at Xu's trial.

Police also seized eight pieces of animal meat and bones from a refrigerator in Xu's home, including a penis, as well as 16 geckos and a cobra were also found.

Many in Asia believe that penises of animals, such as tigers and seals, can boost a man's sexual performance.

In addition to being sentenced to 13 years in prison, Xu was also fined 1.55 million yuan ($250,000), gxnews.com.cn reported. The other members of the party received sentences of between five and six and a half years, and were given smaller fines. The defendants appealed and a higher court upheld the ruling yesterday, the report said.

TagsBusinessman Sentenced to 13 Years for Killing, Eating Three Tigers, Xu, slaughtered and dismembered, tiger penis