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  PlanetArk 14 Aug 06
China Delays Animal Hunt Licence Auction

PlanetArk 10 Aug 06
China to Let Tourists Hunt Endangered Species - Paper

BEIJING - China is to auction licences to foreigners to hunt wild animals, including endangered species, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

The government would auction licences based on types and numbers of wild animals, ranging from about US$200 for a wolf, the only carnivore on the list, to as much as US$40,000 for a yak, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

The auction, taking place on Sunday in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, would be the first of its kind in Chinese history, it added. "Some animals are from the first and second category of national wildlife protection, but with the strict limitations in place, the hunting could not destroy wild animal populations," the daily said.

The report made no mention of the endangered giant panda, some 1,500 of which survive in nature reserves in southwestern China.

Five western areas, including Qinghai, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the autonomous regions of Ningxia and Xinjiang, are involved in the auction.

Hunting of animals is popular with Chinese who like to eat exotic meats or use animal parts in medicines for their perceived aphrodisiac or medicinal properties.

But the hunting licences would be available only to foreigners, given China's strict rules on gun control, the daily said.

"Hunting is not slaughtering," it quoted an official at a wild animal protection department as saying. Proceeds from the auction would be used for wild animal protection, the report said.

PlanetArk 14 Aug 06
China Delays Animal Hunt Licence Auction

BEIJING - China on Friday postponed an auction that would have allowed foreign companies to bid for licences to hunt wild animals following a public backlash, state media reported.

The government-sanctioned auction, which was to have been held on Sunday in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, would have allowed foreign hunting organisations to bid for the right to hunt 289 animals from 14 different species.

The Beijing Youth Daily said on Wednesday that the licences were based on types and numbers of wild animals, ranging from about US$200 for a wolf, the only carnivore on the list, to as much as US$40,000 for a yak. It said the list also included endangered species.

The whole idea had infuriated China's Internet users, Xinhua news agency reported. "The response from the public is beyond our expectation," Xinhua quoted Wang Wei, an official from the State Forestry Association (SFA), the auction's organiser, as saying.

Wang said the goal of the auction was to protect the environment, and that endangered species were not under the hammer. "The government has been strengthening wildlife conservation and the booming population of some animals has become a burden on local ecological system," he said.

SFA spokesman Cao Qingyao said the auction would be held in a proper way "after soliciting suggestions from the public" but declined to give a date.
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