China recorded 10,818 criminal cases involving wildlife in the
first ten months in 2007, up 11.5 percent year-on-year, according
to China's forestry watchdog.
Statistics from the State Forestry Administration (SFA) and
China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) also show that a
total of 172,471 wildlife cases, in which about 1.5 million wild
animals were confiscated, were recorded in the first ten months of
2007, up 2.7 percent compared with the same period last year.
"Forestry security departments at all levels should strengthen
their cooperation with local public security departments, wildlife
protection organizations and other relevant organizations to crack
down on crime cases in all phases including poaching, smuggling and
selling," Legal Daily quoted Bai Jingfu, Vice Minister of
Public Security, as saying.
A survey released by CWCA in 2006 shows that the number of
grocery stores selling wildlife products and wholesale markets
selling wildlife rose by about 20 percent compared with that in
1999.
Both individual and collective efforts to protect wildlife
should be highly encouraged and rewarded while the punishments for
dereliction of duty to protect wildlife will become more severe,
Bai said, adding that more people should participate in the
protection of wildlife.
China has a law on wildlife and the criminal law stipulates that
offense causing injury to rare species of animals are punishable
with a jail term of from one to 10 years or above and a fine.
China's central and local forestry departments have launched
various campaigns such as "Falcon Operation" in 2001 and "Spring
Operation"in 2003,in a bid to crack down on illegal hunting and
trading of wild animals and plants for high profits.
China's rich bio-diversity boasts nearly 20,000 aquatic animal
species and about 600 aquatic plant types, and its grassland is
home to about 7,000 types of wild plants and 10,000 animal
species.
(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2007)
