( CNN ) -- A Vietnamese woman caught cooking a tiger carcass was sentenced to two and a half years in jail , state media reported Thursday . There are reportedly only about 100 tigers , prized by so-called medicine men , left living in Vietnam . A Hanoi court convicted Nguyen Thi Thanh , 41 , for `` violating regulations protecting rare wild animals . '' She was arrested last September after police raided a house that she rented in the capital city of Hanoi and found dead tigers , bear arms , monkey bones and elephant tusks . Officers found Thanh and three accomplices cooking tiger carcasses , the Thanh Nien daily reported . The three men received suspended sentences , ranging from 24 to 30 months , the daily said . The woman told police she sold the animals ' bone marrow for 6.5 million Vietnamese dong ( $ 400 ) per gram to traditional medicine men , according to reports at the time . Such medicine men think tiger bones and other parts can cure arthritis and other joint ailments , according to the Humane Society of the United States . Tigers are universally threatened , with only about 100 still living in Vietnam , the World Wildlife Fund said . The southeast Asian country has banned trafficking in endangered animal parts . Last year , the Vietnamese government unearthed 38 cases of illegal trafficking that involved 503 endangered animals , local media said at the time . E-mail to a friend .
Vietnamese woman caught cooking a tiger carcass jailed for two and a half years . Nguyen Thi Thanh , 41 , convicted for violating regulations protecting rare wild animals . She was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Tuesday after being found guilty of illegally keeping the animal alive by feeding it meat from her own body.