Release of animals into wild
stirs up controversy in China
May 7, 2016 The
Hindu
Releasing animals into the wild dates back to the Han Dynasty (202
BC— 220 AD).
A Buddhist
practice of freeing captive animals into the wild has stirred up a
controversy in China after officials found that creatures like
bedbugs and snakes were released into the wild.
Postings of
micro-blogger “cora liebo” narrating the list of animals “released”
in the southwestern province of Yunnan have left jaws dropped all
over China.
One such
posting in April listed bedbugs among the creatures released, along
with 58 kilograms of snakes.
These
releases have been going on for some years and have included many
bizarre species, alien to Yunnan, including the notoriously
invasive apple snail, which has caused severe damage to rice crops
across Asia.
Rao Dingqi,
an entomologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, described how
alien species could damage Yunnan’s fragile ecosystem.
“Taking
golden apple snails as an example. It is a species from South
America that has strong adaptive and reproductive
capacity.
“It will
damage paddy field ecology, affect the growth of crops and will
reduce the population of native species, perhaps even to
extinction,” he was quoted as saying state-run Xinhua news
agency.
The forest
public security bureau in the provincial capital Kunming are
investigating the case.
Releasing
animals into the wild dates back to the Han Dynasty (202 BC— 220
AD).
The
practice is thought to cultivate kindness, compassion and
benevolence and became popular when Buddhism was introduced to
China.
A media
report last month said that more than 300 foxes and raccoon dogs
had been released in a suburban area of Beijing without
authorisation.
Local
people complained that the foxes had attacked their
chickens.
According
to Chinese law, freeing wild animals requires authorisation and the
environment must be suitable for the animals’ survival.
All the
foxes and raccoon dogs were raised in captivity.
The bureau
recovered more than 100 foxes, many already dead, presumably from
starvation as the animals were not equipped to survive in the
wild.
Mr. Rao
said, “Releasing animals cannot be done blindly. It is important to
know about the animals’ habitat and biological nature, and release
them only in a place where they can survive.”
Kunming
police believe the unregulated releases have given rise to a black
market for trafficking and hunting of wildlife.
Legislation
is needed to stop these releases, along with heightened public
awareness, Mr. Rao said.
When
examining an amendment to the wildlife protection law during a
session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress
(NPC) on April 27, committee members suggested China should enhance
supervision over animal releases.