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Five panda cubs eat during feeding time at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Wednesday, May 13, 2015. According the most recent census by China's State Forestry Administration, announced in February 2015, there are a total of 1,864 pandas in the wild and 211 in captivity in China.Image by Chinatopix Via AP.

Five panda cubs eat during feeding time at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, Wednesday, May 13, 2015. Image by Chinatopix Via AP.

Police in south-western China have arrested 10 people for killing a female giant panda, an endangered species that tops the country’s list of protected animals.

China Central Television said that forest police in Yunnan province recovered panda skin, panda meat, bones and an internal organ from the poachers.

If convicted, the suspects could be jailed for years.

A recent census shows the wild panda population grew by 268 to a total of ,864 in China since the last survey ending in 2003.

Poaching is limited and is not believed to be a major threat to the panda population. Their parts are believed to fetch high prices on the black market however because of their rarity.

(Press Association)