Police have confiscated two endangered Mangshan Pit Vipers worth over one million yuan ( $166 000) in the black market in the mountainous area of Yueyang in China’s South Central province of Hunan on Tuesday.

According to the Yangtze Information Daily, the Yueyang Forest Police Bureau got a tips saying some people have captured the two pit vipers and they were on their way to sell them to a nearby hotel.

With fewer than 500 individuals in existence, the Mangshan pit viper is extremely vulnerable, and is particularly threatened by habitat loss and collection for illegal pet trade.

So police went to the hotel and seized four suspects who were trying to sell the snakes and confiscated the two Mangshan pit Viper. It was reported that the rare snake is worth of one million yuan in the black market.

The Mangshan pit viper is found only in two locations in China, including the Mangshan Mountains after which it is named.