Duck patrols take on illegal game hunters
Print Edition
A CRACKDOWN on the hunting of wild ducks in the Pudong New Area has so far led to the destruction of three hides and yielded more than 40 pieces of equipment, police said yesterday.
“Although wild ducks are not rare, they are protected as they help to maintain the ecological balance in the tidal flat area,” Hu Chenyi, a police officer told Shanghai Daily.
In searches of the flats near Pudong International Airport, officers from the Sanjia Port border police station, which sits at the mouth of Yangtze River, and local forestry officials located and destroyed three huts built by illegal hunters, and recovered more than 20 nets and 20 other pieces of equipment, Hu said.
The crackdown on hunting began on Friday and is ongoing, he said.
“We also found a lot of empty shells for homemade shotguns and many dead birds, including wild ducks and rarer species like white storks,” he said.
With its favorable environment, which includes a rich array of aquatic plants, the tidal flats attract thousands of wild birds and other species every year as they migrate south.
The most popular months are December and January, which is when the hunters are most active. Most sell their catches as food to restaurants.
“It is illegal to hunt any wild animals with nets in China. Moreover, the tidal flat is a wildlife sanctuary,” Hu said.
Anyone caught hunting can be fined or imprisoned, depending on the scale of their activities and the rarity of their prey, he said.
Unfortunately, hunters are very hard to catch as they operate mostly under the cover of darkness, he said.
Despite his dislike of the hunters, Hu is also concerned for their safety.
“It is dangerous to enter the tidal flat at night, so anyone thinking about going duck hunting should be aware of the risks. It would be better for everyone if they just didn’t hunt in the first place.”
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