China's first-ever auction of licenses for hunting wild animals, scheduled for Sunday, has triggered controversies after a Beijing newspaper released the news Wednesday.

The Beijing Youth Daily said in its Wednesday edition that foreigners would be allowed to hunt wild animals like yak when they become successful bidders at the auction to take place in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan Province.

The planned auction, however, was criticized by some angry Chinese netizens as a profit-driven move that would have a fatal impact on wild life conservation in China, where the situation is not encouraging.

An official with the State Forestry Administration (SFA), organizer of the auction and China's watchdog for wild life, defended the move on Thursday, saying that wild animals such as wolf, red deer and yak among the auction hunts are not endangered species and appropriately-managed hunting is helpful for their protection.

Chinese government has strengthened wild life conservation over the past decades and the population of some wild animals has been increasing so quickly that they have become a burden on the local ecological system, Wang Weisheng, an official with SFA's wildlife and plants protection department, told Xinhua.

Wang also confirmed that foreigners will be allowed to hunt in eight western areas including Sichuan, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang , but the exact species and quotes are not decided yet.

Once a foreigner wins a hunting license, the hunter will pay 200 U.S. dollars for a wolf, 6,000 dollars for a red deer, and 10,000 U.S. dollars for an argali, or wild Asiatic sheep with big horns

"The hunting quotas we set for each species this time are quite limited and only the old ones are allowed to be killed, so as to ensure the trophy hunting would not have a negative impact on the wild life population," said Wang.

"What's more, the money from the auction will be used for protection of endangered species," he said.

Wang's comments won support from the forestry authorities in Sichuan, which have received a rising number of reports on wild animals, especially vegetarian ones, intruding local villages and destroying crops.

Take takins for instance. The rising population of the ruminant mammal with backward-pointing horns and a shaggy coat, which was put under national protection in the 1960s and has been listed in the auction hunts, have even threatened the living of wild giant pandas, said Wang Hongjia, head of the Sichuan provincial station for wildlife resources survey and administration.

"The two species live in the same mountainous area and we've found takins are obviously in a stronger position in habitat and food competition," said Wang.

"Even though, hunting for takins would be allowed only in designated areas and when the animals are not in their oestrum or breeding period," said Wang.

Though a novelty in China, sales of licenses for hunting wild animals , or trophy hunting, takes place in some African countries.

It has also aroused wide objection from animal lovers and wildlife protection organizations as rare animals, like elephant and rhinoceros which were prohibited for trade by international pact, were also on the target list due to an excessive population in a certain country.

"We are against Sunday's auction hunts. The point is well-meaning polices do not always result in an ideal way. Some people may have the wrong idea that the government is loosening protection for wild animals and those who have money can do what they want," Yang Xin, head of Green River, a Chengdu-based non-governmental organization for environment protection, told Xinhua.

Yang's organizations have successfully carried out times of wildlife researches in the Hoh Xil, a major habitat of the endangered Tibetan antelope in southwestern China, and around the source of the Yangtze River in Qinghai Province.

"We've found the wildlife population did begin to recover in these areas after the local government confiscated guns from local residents, but we are not very sure if their wild population are stable enough for hunting," said Yang.

"Even if the number of some wild animal was so much as to cause troubles, trophy hunting is not the best solution now," he said.

Yang suggested that a compensation mechanism should be established as soon as possible to ensure both the living rights of wild animals and economic benefits of local residents can be properly guaranteed.

"The government can set up a special fund for those who suffered from wild animal intrusion, which is helpful for local residents to maintain their just-formed habit to protect wildlife, " said Yang.

O'gorman Dermot, chief representative of World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) China branch, also urged the Chinese government to pay special attention to the species selection and quota setting when carrying out trophy hunting.

"Trophy hunting to some species does occur in some countries and it can help with conservation for some species in some countries and also improve livelihoods of local communities when it was scientifically based and properly managed, but of course, we don't support trophy hunting to some endangered or threatened species," the WWF China chief told Xinhua.

"There must be clear laws and guidelines on the quotas (for trophy hunting) that allocated and professional hunting standards for what type of animals can be targeted," said Dermot, adding special attention should be given on monitoring the hunting process.

According to Wang Hongjia, the forestry authorities concerned have been required to assign special workers to accompany foreign hunters during the whole hunting process to make sure trophy hunting is properly conducted.