HANGZHOU, Jan. 8 -- Police in east China on Wednesday seized the body of an animal suspected to be a Siberian tiger as it was being loaded onto an SUV by two suspects.

Two men were caught carrying a woven bag onto a white vehicle parked on a road at around 9 a.m. Wednesday by police in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, according to police in Wenzhou's Lucheng district.

When police stopped to examine the situation, one man immediately ran away and the other was held by police.

An initial inspection by forestry experts in Wenzhou said the tiger is believed to be a grown Siberian tiger, but further examination is needed to confirm its exact species.

The captured suspect was a 31-year-old man surnamed Wang, a native of Jiangxi Province. He is the owner of the car.

The case is under further investigation.

Siberian tigers, one of the world's rarest mammals, mainly live in eastern Russia, northeast China, and northern parts of the Korean Peninsula. Fewer than 500 Siberian tigers currently live in the wild.

The State Forestry Administration put the number of wild Siberian tigers in China between 18 and 22 in May last year.

The wild Siberian tiger population began to decline after humans began developing the local forestry industry in recent decades. Poachers have also been blamed for the animals' dwindling numbers.

According to China's criminal law, those who illegally catch, kill, buy or sell endangered wild animals on the state's key protection list face a maximum penalty of more than ten years in jail and fines.

On Monday, the Chinese government destroyed 6.1 tonnes of confiscated ivory in southern Guangdong Province in a first-of-its-kind move to demonstrate its stance against illegal wildlife trafficking.