Law enforcement officers in Guangzhou, capital of south China's
Guangdong
Province, has launched thorough inspections of markets,
restaurants, train stations and ports to crack down on the trade of
wildlife.
In
the wee hours of Tuesday morning, 65 law officers imposed a spot
check on four wildlife trading centers in the city's Baiyun
District.
At
5:10 a.m., a van emerged at Xinyuan Market, the largest wildlife
trading center in Guangzhou, and a man in his 30s jumped out of the
van and began unloading goods.
The law enforcement officers immediately snatched all the game
catches on the van including pheasants, foxes, snakes and martens.
Around 8:00 am, all the traders who had brought animals to the
market were apprehended.
Xinyuan, Chatou, Dongbao and Nanjin markets in the Baiyun District
are four largest wildlife trading centers in Guangzhou with a daily
trade earnings exceeding one million RMB yuan (about US$120,000).
The figure could amount to 1.9 million RMB yuan (some US$230,000)
in Xinyuan, with the annual figure reaching 700-800 million RMB
yuan (anywhere from US$85 million to US$97 million).
During their inspection tour of the four markets, the law
enforcement officers seized a total of 267 pheasants, 30 night
cranes, 54 foxes, 6 martens, some 30 sparrows, 20 turtledoves and
25 kilograms of snakes. The confiscated game has been transferred
to the Guangzhou Wildlife Protection Center.
A
trader from Qingyuan County was at a loss, saying that he had
hardly expected such a rigid and stringent control in Guangzhou and
promised he would not trade such hunted game any more.
Residents in the city of Guangzhou are famed for their taste for
wild game, as epitomized by the popular saying that "Guangzhou
people are fond of eating anything four-legged except chairs".
To
date, a few scientists in Hong Kong said they believe the SARS
virus had jumped from wildlife to humans. So local government
departments in Guangdong decided to mete out a heavy blow against
the trade of hunted game and rid locals of the unhealthy habit of
eating wildlife.
Nowadays, law officials are busy patrolling markets, restaurants,
and any unusual bustling sites where hunted game was be traded and
killed have become quiet and at peace. And some traders are seen
playing mah-jong inside their closed shops.
However, a few traders may look for clandestine channels to trade
wild game, said Zhang Weiliang, deputy director of the Forestry
Bureau of Baiyun District. In order to stamp out the illegal trade,
law enforcement officers are also conducting surveys in airports
and railway stations to control the entry of wildlife.
More than 10,000 wild animals have been seized over the past two
days at Baiyun Airport.
Meanwhile, the Guangdong provincial government is appealing to
local residents to adopt hygienic eating habits in an effort to
contain spread of the virus from wildlife to humans.
(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2003)