BEIJING — Ten people were arrested in suspicion of killing and dismembering a wild panda and selling its meat, according to Chinese state television. 
 
 Police found the panda's skin, bones and 22 pounds of meat in a raid on a house in Yanjin, Yunnan province, in December, CCTV reported. 
 
 Two of the suspects are brothers who told police they were hunting for an animal that killed their goat. 
 
 On finding the creature in a tree, they shot at it and found the falling animal to be a giant panda. When the injured panda climbed another tree, they shot at it again, causing its death. 
 
 The account was confirmed to another Chinese journalist by the Yunnan Forestry Bureau. 
 
 DNA tests revealed the panda was an adult female, CCTV said. 
 
 A piece of a wild giant panda fur is measured after 10 suspects involved in killing the panda were detained by police in Yanjin county, Zhaotong city, southwest China's Yunnan province on May 13. Yang linhua / Imaginechina via AP 
 
 The grisly case provoked strong reactions on social media. 
 
 “How can people be so heartless towards such adorable animals?” asked Sina Weibo user, Jiwuge. 
 
 However, Netease user Xiazi said: “Without the existence of buyers there would not be this killing.” 
 
 There are only about 1,800 wild pandas left in China, CCTV said. 
 
 Julia Zhou and Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report. ||||| BEIJING (AP) — Police in southwestern China arrested 10 people for killing a female wild giant panda and buying and selling its parts, state media said Wednesday. 
 
 Female pandas eat bamboo at Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan province Wednesday, May 13, 2015. Police in southwestern China arrested 10 people for killing... (Associated Press) 
 
 Five panda cubs eat special milk porridge served in separate bowls during feeding time at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan province Wednesday, May... (Associated Press) 
 
 The giant panda is an endangered species that tops China's list of protected animals. Poaching them is rare, but panda parts are believed to fetch high prices on the black market because of their rarity. 
 
 China Central Television said forest police in Yunnan province recovered panda skin, meat, bones and an internal organ from the poachers and vendors. If convicted, the suspects could be jailed for years. 
 
 Authorities told the official Xinhua News Agency that one suspect, identified by his family name of Wang, set up a trap after he found his sheep had been killed by wild animals in December. After he found the trap was broken and his brother spotted footprints of a wild animal, the two men tracked down the panda and killed it, according to the media report. 
 
 The men sold 35 kilograms of giant panda meat and its four paws for 4,800 yuan ($800) to one buyer, and that the parts were sold again to others, Xinhua said. 
 
 A recent census shows the wild panda population grew by 268 to a total of 1,864 in China since the last survey ending in 2003. 
 
 The World Wide Fund for Nature has said poaching, a traditional threat to wild pandas in China, has declined but economic development has become a major threat. Hydropower plants, roads, and mining projects disrupt the animal's natural habitat. 
 
 Still, Chinese officials say poaching rare animals and smuggling their parts remain a problem and that authorities are stepping up efforts to crack down on acts endangering rare animals.
– There is now one less giant panda in the world. China Central Television reports that police have arrested 10 people suspected in the killing and dismemberment of a protected wild panda, including two brothers said to have been the ones who actually killed the animal. Acting on a tip, police in Yunnan province raided a home and found panda meat, bones, and fur. They say the brothers sold about 77 pounds of meat and all four of the animal's paws to one merchant for $800, who then sold the parts to other buyers, reports AP. The brothers told police they were hunting for a wild animal that had killed one of their goats, NBC News reports. After spotting what they claim they thought was merely "a large animal" in a tree, the brothers shot and injured the bear. Police say they then fatally shot the wounded female, despite knowing it was a panda. If convicted, the suspects—both the hunters and the merchants—could face years in prison. Only about 1,800 giant pandas exist in the wild, making the black market for them lucrative.