Illegal traders killing 1m birds every year, rights group claims
Print Edition
A MILLION wild birds are being killed every year to feed demand in Shanghai for spurious health tonics, an animal rights volunteer claimed yesterday.
“I saw two women selling birds at the Huancheng Farmers’ Market in Songjiang District last Friday,” said Jiang Long, a member of the Firefly Environmental Protection Volunteer Organization.
“Over the course of the day, each of them sold more than 200 birds — sparrows for 2.50 yuan (40 US cents) each, wild pigeons for 15 yuan and wild ducks for 100 yuan,” he said.
“Based on what we saw, we estimated that the women probably sell about 100,000 birds a year. If you add that to the ones on sale at markets in Qingpu, Chongming, Baoshan, Minhang, Jiading and Nanhui, the annual total is likely about 1 million,” he said.
The sale of wild birds increases in the winter as many Chinese people believe that eating them is good for their health, Jiang said.
In recent weeks, Firefly volunteers have torn down nearly 500 nets put up to catch birds in forests in Maogang, Songjiang District, Jiang said.
An unnamed official from the Shanghai Wildlife Protection and Management Center said that 579 birds were seized and more than 4,400 nets were torn down in 4,000 raids on wetlands, forests, markets and restaurants last year.
The practice of catching wild birds with nets is illegal in the city, he said.
While the hunters run the risk of criminal prosecution, those who consume illegal birds are putting their lives in jeopardy, the official said.
“Eating a wild animal is a huge health hazard. Many birds carry the H7N9 bird flu virus, which can be fatal,” he said.
Several district governments, including Jing’an and Huangpu, have banned the sale of live poultry to minimize the risk of a bird flu outbreak in the city.
Other areas will be required to restrict the trade from the first day of the Chinese New Year through April 30.
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