Eating rare animals now illegal in China

This video says about itself:

Golden snub-nosed monkeys eat, play, love

7 August 2012

Massey University biologists have been in China’s Qinling Mountains researching the eating habits and vocal patterns of the Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, in the wild and in semi-captivity.It is one of five species of snub-nosed monkey, all of which are endangered.

From Wildlife Extra:

New law makes eating rare animals illegal

People caught eating rare animals in China could face 10 [years] or more in prison thanks to a new interpretation of the Criminal Law being passed. Currently, there are 420 species of wild animals that are considered rare or endangered by the Chinese Government. These include giant pandas, golden monkeys, Asian black bears and pangolins.

According to the new legal document, anyone who eats the animals in this list or buys them for other purposes will be considered to be breaking the law and will face a jail term from below five years to more than 10 years, depending on the degree of offending.

Before this buyers have been able to walk away unpunished and the market for wild animals, which are popular in traditional Chinese medicine, have been fuelling the poaching trade.

Lang Sheng deputy head of the legislative affairs commission of China’s National People’s Congress explained that eating rare wild animals is not only bad social conduct but also a main reason why illegal hunting has not been stopped despite repeated crackdowns.

“In fact, buyers are a major motivator of large-scale illegal hunting,” Lang said.

Many of these wild animals are sought for their ‘believed’ medicinal values as it is believed they can cure many ailments, while others are seen as sign of social status and wealth. For example bear bile is is used to treat fever, convulsions, trauma and haemorrhoids among other conditions and as a result bears are kept captive in cruel conditions so they can be milked for their bile –

Read about the rescue of 130 bears from a bear bile farm HERE.

For more information on animals used in traditional medicine and how you can help click HERE.