A batch of antelope horns smuggled from Russia has been recently seized in Jieyang City of south China's Guangdong province, according to sources of the Customs of Shantou City in the province.

Around 8,100 antelope horns, weighing 2.365 tons in total, the sources noted, had been ferreted out in a business premise, the largest catch of its kind ever found in the province.

Its owner, failing to produce any document to prove the goods were purchased legally, had to admit eventually they were smuggled goods from Russia.

Chinese laws have put antelope, a rare wildlife on the brink of extinction, under state protection and request all relevant import and export business to have a special license. The owner has now been detained for further investigation.

Police said some of the antelopes are believed to be Saiga antelopes, which used to live in China but died out in 1940s due to rampant poaching and the shrinkage of their habitats.

Saiga horn is an often-used ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of fever, stroke, headache and dizziness.

As hunting for Saigas for their horns kept increasing with a resultant rapid decline in the Saiga population worldwide, antelopes have been listed as a first-class endangered species under the international convention on protection of wildlife.

China has ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and bans the trade of wildlife products.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2004)