Hunting for sport ignites public fury

An undated photo from a bear-hunting suspect's mobile phone shows a bear bear hanging on a tree. [Photo/IC]

Eight were arrested over allegedly poaching, killing, transporting, purchasing and selling endangered wild animals and another five were bailed including the tycoon who bought the bear. Police are investigating where their guns come from.

Poaching has again ignited the fury of China's wildlife advocates and Internet users.

Many wealthy are obsessed with hunting out for sport, with the activity becoming a status symbol, said a wildlife advocate. The annual charge for a membership at a hunting range in Mianyang has exceeded 100,000 yuan (16,400 U.S. dollars).

He pointed out that China established its first international hunting ground in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in 1984. After that, a number of such grounds crop up in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia.

However, they cannot meet the demand of hunters who want to catch "wild" animals or appetite for wildlife.

A man sentenced to 13 years in jail for purchasing and eating three tigers had his sentence upheld by a court in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region last December.

Last November, a group of hunters working in government, a local university and a chemical plant in central China's Hunan Province mistakenly shot dead a villager as they hunted in a forest.

"They are so cruel. If poaching continues, our children will only see these endangered animals in pictures in the future," Castellan wrote on her microblog Sina Weibo account.

Another Internet user nicknamed Xiongxiaoxiong wrote on his account the government should severely punish poachers and buyers, and regulate nature reserves better.

Black bears are listed by the Chinese government as a protected species. Anyone hunting them without permits are subject to severe punishment.