Drive against harm to wildlife intensifies

Police in China have investigated more than 7,000 criminal cases of harm to birds and other wild animals so far this year, capturing more than 11,000 suspects, the Ministry of Public Security said.

Through continuous campaigns in recent years, police across the country have responded harshly to criminal activities harming wild animals, the ministry said in a statement on Friday, which marked National Ecology Day, and disclosed five typical cases harming wild birds.

In one of the cases, in October 2023, police in Gaizhou, Liaoning province, captured 10 people suspected of hunting wild birds.

The police confiscated from the suspects 31 wild birds under second-class State protection and more than 25,000 wild birds that are of important ecological, scientific and social value.

From September to October in 2023, these people used nets and other tools to hunt wild birds in no-hunting zones or during hunting moratoriums, and purchased, transported and sold wild birds illegally, the ministry said.

In another case, police in Jianli, Hubei province, captured 50 people suspected of illegal hunting, purchasing and selling of wild birds in October 2024.

The police seized over 2,600 yellow-breasted buntings, which are classified as State first-class protected animals, along with a total of 28,800 protected animals like the yellow-throated bunting and black-faced bunting. Additionally, they confiscated over 40 sets of trapping equipment and more than 150 nets.

Investigations by local public security authorities showed that from June to October in 2024, a suspect surnamed Zeng and another surnamed Zhang had others hunt protected wild birds in Jianli, and shipped the birds outside Hubei province to sell them, the ministry said.

A third case was cracked in December 2023 by police in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, where six people suspected of hunting eagles and Chinese hwameis were captured.

Despite being fully aware that eagles and Chinese hwameis are wildlife under special State protection, the suspects traveled to different places in the country to purchase, transport and sell them for personal breeding and profit without obtaining permits from relevant authorities, the ministry said.

They were also said to have trained and manipulated eagles to hunt other wild birds, livestreamed Chinese hwamei fighting and organized online gambling.

China has a list of species of wild animals, including birds, which it places under special State protection. Animals on the list are subject to first or second-class State protection.

It also has an extensive list of terrestrial wild animals with important ecological, scientific and social value. Listed animals are also placed under strict protection.

In order to protect biodiversity, the Ministry of Public Security has recently initiated a nationwide campaign aimed at combating criminal activities that harm State-protected wildlife, including birds. This campaign calls for a rigorous crackdown on such illegal activities to ensure the preservation of these species.