Strengthen safety net to protect wildlife

LAST YEAR, the police in Meixian county, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, caught 48 suspects in their campaign against wildlife poaching. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

The police found 1,029 animal carcasses held by the criminal gang of poachers, whose way of killing the animals was rather cruel. According to reports, they made DIY high-voltage devices using storage batteries and wires that they placed in the wild. Any animal coming into contact with the devices would be electrocuted. The poachers would then receive a signal notifying them of the death and they would collect the bodies of the animals. The meat of wild boars, rabbits and birds was packaged and frozen, while the paws of black bears - which can be sold for thousands of yuan on the black market - were cut off and musk was extracted from musk deer. Reports show they had "customers" in 12 cities in seven provinces.

It was on Taibai Mountain in the northern Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi province, that the gang committed their illegal deeds. By indiscriminately killing black bears and musk deer, which are protected species, and other wildlife, the poachers depleted the biodiversity of Qinling, which has long been known as a "genetic pool" for China.