YINCHUAN, May 8 -- Four people have been caught by police in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region after they allegedly hunted and killed endangered sheep, authorities said Friday.

One body, six heads and eight hoofs of bharals, also known as Himalayan blue sheep, were seized by forest police.

Police found a suspicious vehicle in the nature reserve near the Helan Mountain and caught three suspects in mid February. The suspected leader of the group was also seized at a village in early May.

Investigation showed they shot dead a total of ten blue sheep between January and February in the nature reserve and transported the bodies of these animals to home.

Further investigation is under way.

The Himalayan blue sheep, under the second-level state protection in China, is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, China's Tibet, India, etc..