Management of wildlife strengthened amid epidemic

Zhangjiajie, a well-known tourist city in northwestern Hunan province, issued a circular on Friday banning the trade and consumption of the Chinese giant salamander, a species on the national second-class protection list and Appendix I in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, according to a report from Rednet.cn.

The circular said it is forbidden to eat wild giant salamanders or those domestically bred in the city. Restaurants are forbidden to use the name, nickname or image of the giant salamander in signboards or recipes to induce customers.

The local authorities will be on watch for reports from the public through the city's 12315 hotline and other service platforms, and violation of the circular will be investigated and dealt with in accordance with the law. Suspected criminal activities will also be investigated.

Reports from the Hunan provincial forestry authorities said since Jan 23 a total of 23,3901 wildlife breeding places have been closed, 5,254 wild animals and their products have been confiscated and 425 protected natural areas have been closed.

Targeted efforts are continuing around the country as a response to the recent joint announcement by the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the State Administration of Forestry to cope with the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The announcement said wild animals and their products are banned from sale, purchase, use, shipment, carrying and delivery. Related advertisements and trade services also are forbidden.

In China's southernmost province of Hainan, for instance, all wildlife breeding farms have been closed since Jan 22 and the tropical island province has completely suspended the examination and approval of artificial breeding, sales and use of snakes, bamboo rats, badgers, civets and other wild animals and their transport out of the island province, according to a report from Xinhua News Agency.

Xia Fei, director of the Hainan provincial administration of forestry, said since Jan 22 the provincial administration has conducted comprehensive inspection of produce markets, supermarkets and restaurants to prohibit wildlife trading in an all-round way.

Hainan has 228 civet cat breeding firms with 61,514 livestock on hand, 174 snake breeding firms with 482,706 livestock on hand and 21 bamboo rat breeding firms with 42,310 livestock on hand.

As of Feb 6, 758 artificial breeding farms have been inspected, informed of the situation and closed, according to the provincial forestry administration.

It said all nature reserves in the island province, including Jianfengling National Forest Park, Diaoluoshan National Forest Park, Bawangling National Forest Park, Limushan National Forest Park and Wuzhishan National Nature Reserve, stopped receiving tourists on Jan 25.