PRAGUE — A Czech court has convicted three men of killing critically endangered tigers and illegally trading in tiger products.
They were arrested last year after police discovered the body of a recently killed tiger, a large number of skins of big cats and the bodies of 20 other protected animals during raids conducted in Prague and elsewhere in the country.
The county court in northern town of Ceska Lipa sentenced taxidermist Milos Hrozinek to three years in prison Tuesday. Animal parks owner Ludvik Berousek received a two-year suspended sentence and a fine, and Vietnamese businessman Xuan Vu Le got a two-year suspended term.
Prosecutors say they organized the killing of tigers and processing their parts to make products sold on the black market for Asian buyers.
The men can still appeal.
