Published 11:33 IST, July 11th 2020
China proposes to add 55 more animals to its Conservation list amid backlash
The new list of wild animals proposed by China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration will be added under the "State-priority conservation" category.
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As global pressure on China mounts amid the COVID pandemic, in a bid to crack down its illegal wildlife trade, China's top conservation authority proposed a list of 55 wild animals to be added to the State's conservation list.
The new list of wild animals proposed by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs will be added under the "State-priority conservation" category. These animals would be classified under two different levels of protection based on their population numbers.
Animals in the first-level will receive maximum protection and will be banned from being captured or traded without a permit from China's national wildlife department. Animals in the second-level would be allowed to be traded with provincial-level approval.
"It will help to save those valuable and endangered wild animals. It will also benefit the country's biological diversity and the balance of ecosystems, contributing to the construction of China's ecological civilisation," CGTN quoted a paper released on Friday.
According to the proposal, 55 animals including Yangtze finless porpoise, jungle cat, spotted seal and Eurasian elk will see an upgrade from the second to the first level owing to a depletion in population numbers. Some others include white-cheeked macaque, large-spotted civet, Asian palm civet, and sloth bear.
On the other hand, animals like Assam macaque, Burmese python, Tibetan wild donkey, Tibetan antelope, and Siberian ibex will be degraded on account of a significant population increase, according to statistics from the administration.
China bans illegal wildlife trade
In February, China banned the sale of wild animals for food after authorities cited the risk of the Coronavirus disease spreading to humans. According to reports, Health Officials in China linked the coronavirus epidemic to the illegal wildlife marketplace in the central city of Wuhan, Hubei province where wildlife such as peacocks, bats, pangolins and crocodiles were sold. Health experts criticized China’s trade of exotic animals for food saying that posed a significant threat to public health as it exposed consumers to dangerous pathogens.
Several countries believe that the deadly virus passed from either bats or pangolins to people from Wuhan's wet seafood markets before spreading worldwide affecting over 12,630,872 people and causing 562,888 deaths.
(With Agency Inputs)
11:33 IST, July 11th 2020