Police have arrested 11 people for allegedly poaching endangered animals in a virgin forest in Central China, and also seized a large number of bear parts and antelope corpses.

A joint operation by police in Hubei and Hunan provinces found that the suspects used electric nets to illegally trap endangered animals in Shimen Forest near Wufenghouhe Nature Reserve on the border of the two provinces, police said.

Seventeen bear paws, five bear gall bladders and more than 300 kg of bear meat, as well as musk deer skins and antelope corpses, were seized by police. Five other suspects are still being pursued, according to the police in Shimen county, Hunan province, on Monday.