Three Chinese poachers have been charged on Wednesday for killing a panda and then selling its meat. Giant pandas are currently in the endangered animals list and hunting them is punishable under China's law.

The two accused are brothers - Wand Wenlin and Wang Wencai - told police authorities that they shot the panda in the mistaken belief that it was bear. The shooting happened on December of last year in a forest in the province of Yunnan.

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Earlier reports from the government press said at least ten suspects were involved but only three have been officially charged.

Instead of alerting the authorities, the brothers instead took the dead panda and ate some of its meat. They then sold the remaining panda meat to the third person accused, Li Kequan. If convicted, the three could face a prison term that could reach up to ten years. However, they could also face harsher penalties including a death sentence depending on the "circumstances".

When law enforcers raided the residence of the brothers, they were able to recover the some of panda's body parts such as liver as well as its skin. There was also reports from the state media that around ten kilos of panda meat was recovered.

The giant panda is considered a Chinese national treasure and the news of the sale has caused an uproar in the country. Many Chinese posted their condemnation of the panda killing in various social sites.

The Chinese government has committed a substantial amount of its budget to increase the size of the panda population out in the wild. Within four decades, the number of pandas doubled. Giant pandas in China are always in danger of losing their forest homes and can only produce a few cubs at a time.

The case has also alerted authorities about the possibility that there are other pandas living in Yunnan. Most pandas in the wild are believed to be roaming in three Chinese provinces namely, Gansu, Sichuan and Shaanxi. Most believe that there are no pandas in Yunnan since none has been sighted for several hundred years. Authorities are currently combing the area in hopes of finding one.

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