Chinese frog breeders call for help as wildlife trade ban shuts down business
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The appeal was made in two petitions posted online – one by a group from Jiangmen in Guangdong province and the other by breeders in Hainan province.
“The government’s forestry department has banned trading of all wild animals, including our 10,000 tonnes of domesticated Thai tiger frogs. Where do we go from here?” the Jiangmen breeders said in their petition, which included the names and phone numbers of more than 100 signatories.
“Frog farming is no longer a source of living. The government asked us to try something else. What are we capable of doing?” they said, adding that 10,000 people were employed in the industry in Taishan county alone.
The Hainan petition, which was signed by more than 700 people, also urged officials to consider the economic impact of shutting down an industry that it said employed around 6,000 people and involved 8,000 tonnes of livestock.
“First of all, we are not breeding wildlife,” the group said. “Second, [farming frogs] can protect and repair the environment. Third, it gives farmers in Hainan a long-term solution in the development of the rural economy.”