Guangdong to Crackdown on Illegal Wildlife Hunting and Trading

Southern China's Guangdong Province will crackdown on illegal hunting and trading during the Asian Games, which will kick off in the provincial capital city of Guangzhou next month.

Experts say the event is an opportunity to promote public awareness on wildlife conservation, while stressing a larger effort must be made in the long run.

CRI's Yingying has the details.

Zhang Guihong is director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's South China Project. He says the project is significant and relevant to the Asian Games.

"If we promote wildlife conservation during such a high-profile event, we will be able to achieve maximum results with minimal effort. On the flip side, with so many people expected to visit the event, many illegal wildlife traders might also see it as an opportunity to attract customers, so it is necessary to crackdown on illegal wildlife hunting and trading during this time."

Guangdong is considered as a major market for wildlife consumption.

Chen Weijie is a local resident.

"Some people believe that eating wildlife benefits one's health, while some locals just want to treat their guests coming from far away with something special."

Zhang Guihong from the Wildlife Conservation Society agrees, and says that it is also the reason why wildlife conservation is a long-term task.

"Our work on wildlife conservation is mainly dedicated to changing people's consuming habit, which is formed during a long time. It's not an easy task. It takes continuous effort in a long run."

The wildlife conservationist says the local government has set up strict regulations on the breeding, trafficking and trading of wildlife. However, many people are still taking the risk to illegally run the business.

"We can use our social media channels to publicize the idea of wildlife conservation, to educate and influence people not eating wildlife. By doing this in a long run we can reduce the wildlife consumption. Without market demand, the illegal wildlife hunting and trading will definitely decrease. But what's more important is that our government should further strengthen its effort on cracking down wildlife hunting and trading, leaving no room for those illegal wildlife traders."

Zhang Guihong adds that setting up a long-term supervising system would also be helpful for the wildlife conservation.

For CRI, this is Yingying.