China needs to establish a directory system of wildlife prohibited from hunting, breeding, transferring or eating urgently

Abstract

A small number of Chinese eat wild animals mindlessly to satisfy their special dietary addictions, which led to the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the recent outbreak of the coronavirus pneumonia. The loss is huge, and the current Chinese law is unable to cope with it. It is strongly advised that the “Wildlife Protection Act” be amended as soon as possible to expand its scope of protection and include wildlife that may cause public health incidents. We need to establish a directory system that prohibits hunting, breeding, transferring and eating of wildlife, and force the whole population to adopt an environmentally friendly diet that is responsible to the state and society. It is suggested that the design of the directory system should be based on comprehensive and scientific provisions on hunting, breeding, transporting, storing, and eating, etc. It is also suggested to establish a system that includes law enforcement assessment, a bonus reporting mechanism, and administrative public interest litigation to strengthen administrative, social, and judicial supervision. For offenders, it is suggested to add legal liability of fines and administrative detention in the “Legal liability” section of the “Wildlife Protection Act”. In addition, the Chinese Criminal Law should be amended to include crimes of illegal hunting, breeding, transporting, storing, transferring, purchasing and eating of wild animals.