China to solicit public opinion for hunting auction

[Guest guest]

China to solicit public opinion for hunting auction

(Xinhua)

2006-08-15

 

BEIJING -- China's State Forestry Administration (SFA)

is to solicit suggestions from the public before

deciding whether to continue the auction of hunting

quotas and licenses.

 

SFA spokesman Cao Qingyao said on Tuesday that the SFA

would further research the issue and information would

be released as soon as possible.

 

But he could not give details about how the public

could make submissions.

 

Angry Chinese Internet users criticized the auction

for the right to hunt 289 animals of 14 species under

national protection when the news was released last

week.

 

Internet users claimed the auction was purely

profit-driven.

 

The SFA, China's wildlife protection agency, said the

animals were not endangered species and restricted

hunting would help manage their stocks.

 

The SFA postponed the auction as a result of the

response from the public, which it described as

" beyond expectations " last Friday, just two days

before the planned auction on August 13.

 

The auction was scheduled to take place in Chengdu,

capital of southwestern Sichuan Province.

 

Both Chinese and foreigners would have been allowed

bid on the right to hunt animals, said Cao.

 

However, as Chinese are prohibited from owning

firearms, they face restrictions when it comes to

hunting.

 

It was to have been the first such auction in China.

 

Foreigners were previously allowed to hunt in China

only after completing a complicated application

process. By the end of last year, China had earned

36.39 million U.S. dollars by allowing 1,101

foreigners to hunt 1,347 animals since 1985.

 

China's hunting quota rose from just three individual

animals in 1985 to 123 in 2005. The country has opened

25 hunting ranges to foreigners.

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/15/content_665447.htm

 

 

 

 

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