A Chinese city has taken a remarkable step to try to protect its wildlife population by banning all hunting of land-based animals.
The ban on hunting terrestrial wildlife took effect Oct. 21, Guangdong Today reported, and will last for five years, until Oct. 20, 2030. Hunting had previously been banned in nature reserves, but the new regulation will afford wildlife protection across all other ecosystems within city limits.
Huizhou, a city of just over six million people located about 40 miles north of Hong Kong, is home to roughly 1,000 animal species and 3,000 plant species. Nearly 100 protected wildlife species call the city home, including the bahaba and civet.
Hunting bans are essential to protecting wildlife, preserving biodiversity, and promoting empathy for animals. Ireland, for example, is taking steps to ban fox hunting, which involves dogs chasing foxes for miles before killing them, a practice many critics label as cruel.
These bans can also play a key role in reducing illegal poaching and smuggling of threatened and endangered species. One local Indian government recently banned all hunting, trade, and consumption of the pangolin, an endangered species known as the world's most-trafficked mammal.
Poaching is of particular concern in China. A 2023 study found that, between 2014 and 2020, the country saw more than 9,250 convictions for illegal hunting. The animals killed by these convicted hunters represented 21% of China's amphibian, bird, mammal, and reptile species, including 25% of endangered species within those classes.
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Most of the animals killed came from a small number of convictions, researchers found, indicating that much of the poaching came from large, organized operations.
"Our results suggest that illegal hunting is a major, overlooked threat to biodiversity throughout China," the study's authors wrote.
Huizhou's ban allows for only a few exceptions, including scientific research, population control, and disease monitoring, and special permits must be obtained.
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