Bones, furs of rare animals found in Chinese flat

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) Chinese police seized 104 furs of rare wild animals and several skeletons piled up in an apartment, the largest seizure of its kind since 1949, state media said today.

Police raided a flat in Linxia in the central province of Gansu where they found the remains of bears, snow leopards, clouded leopards and lynxes, Xinhua news agency said.

The tenant ''had been buying the furs and bones from Qinghai and Tibet since last November and made a profit of 4,000 yuan (520 dollar) by selling two snow leopard furs'', the agency said.

Bones of exotic animals are an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine.

Xinhua did not say what charges Ma would face, but poachers and smugglers of protected animals face long jail terms in China.

Police said this was the largest seizure of snow leopard furs since the Communists came to power in 1949.

Reuters SW DB0858