Two farmers who attempted to sell toxic sparrows to restaurants and snack bars have been arrested, reports Huashang News.

Acting on a tip-off, police caught Chen and Huang, two rural workers from Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, who were collecting about 1,000 sparrows dead from eating poisoned bait at a school yard in the province's Xianyang City.

The two suspects confessed that they had laced the bait with poison to capture the birds.

They also said they got the inspiration from other villagers in their hometown of Weinan City, where sparrows have become almost extinct due to excessive hunting in recent years.

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