Making a killing from killing: Chinese activists fear revision of wildlife protection law will only increase abuse of animals
Critics say existing wildlife protection law has helped poaching and trade in wild animals grow in mainland popularity as industry take advantage of legal loopholes
Wealthy Chinese businessmen killing tigers for food, the widespread netting of birds and bears being farmed so their bile can be extracted are just some of the cases of animal cruelty on the mainland which have sparked a public outcry.
Animal protection activists had hoped a new revision of the decades-old wildlife protection law would change such practices, but they say new draft amendments tabled for legislators to consider will only make such abuses worse if they are approved.
They have called on members of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s legislature, to condemn all wildlife “consumption”, including the eating and use of animals in performances, as the parliamentary body seeks public opinion on the controversial draft revision to the Wildlife Protection Law.
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China’s existing wildlife protection law was first drafted in the belief that commercialisation could help to provide better protection.
However, that has turned out to be false. Instead, the poaching and trade – and eating – of wild animals has become even more popular as the country has grown richer, and poachers and dealers have taken advantage of legal loopholes and lax implementation of the existing law.
Forestry authorities, which oversee the issuing of permits for breeding and transporting wild animals, have become a critical part of this “underground” wildlife industry.