Beijing bans residents from eating wild animals

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Beijing has forbidden its residents from consuming wild animals throughout the city in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Local officials passed a new law on Friday to impose severe punishment on people who hunt, trade and eat wildlife, which is believed to be the source of the COVID-19.

China rolled out a temporary ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals across the country in late February. But the new legislation marks the first time that the capital city signed the policy into law.

Earlier this month, two other Chinese cities introduced new regulations to prevent residents from eating dogs and cats.

The picture above shows the cat-like mammals seized by officials at Xinyuan wildlife market in Guangzhou on January 5, 2004

In the file photo, dog carcasses are stacked at a dog meat market in Yulin, China, on June 21, 2017

The law, titled 'Beijing Wildlife Protection and Management Regulations', was passed by the legislative committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress on April 24.

An older version of the regulations was introduced by the Beijing government in 1989. The officials decided to revise the wild animal protection law in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The new legislation will take effect from June 1.

The previous law listed over 500 types of terrestrial animals under the Beijing Wildlife Conservation Directory, Chinese media report. 

Under the new regulations, 'terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value' will be included, according to a government notice. Seventeen types of aquatic wild animals are also added to the list.

A proposal of the new law was first issued by China's top legislative committee in late February as the killer bug ravaged the country. But the regulations passed last week marks the first time that the capital city signed the temporary ban into law.

People are pictured unloading a truck at a seafood market in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on February 25

A woman wearing a mask works in a seafood market in Guangzhou on February 25

Consumption of the listed wildlife will be prohibited across the city of Beijing. Hunting, trading and transporting such wild animals with the purpose of consuming are also forbidden.

Violators of the law can face fines up to 20 times the value of wild animals or their by-products. The regulations also specified that food service providers who breach the law will face harsher punishment.

The law will also restrict the breeding of wildlife by banning private breeders. Institutions and companies can only breed wild animals for scientific, medical and display purposes.

The new rules have redefined the scope of protected wild animals and banned wildlife hunting in all regions in Beijing unless otherwise specified, said Wang Rongmei, a lawmaker of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

It remains unclear if other cities in China will follow suit and enforce similar regulations.

Two other Chinese cities have introduced regulations to prevent residents from eating pet meat earlier this month.

Zhuhai and Shenzhen, both in the southern province of Guangdong, will enforce the ban from May 1.

Authorities in Zhuhai issued the order in line with a government's proposal which lists dogs as 'companion animals', an official told state media.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has recently excluded dogs from farm animals in a drafted directive.

The authority said it recognises dogs as 'companion animals' and 'not suitable' to be managed as livestock in the document released on April 8.

Only the animals officially listed as livestock or poultry can be bred, raised, traded and transported for commercial purposes in China, according to China's Animal Husbandry Law.

This means the proposal can potentially prevent around 10 million dogs being killed for their meat every year in the country.

The annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival, held every year on the summer solstice, is one of the most controversial food festivals in China.

It sees thousands of dogs cruelly killed, skinned and cooked with blow-torches before being eaten by the locals.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk

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