WildanimaltradestillaliveandwellGUANGZHOU:Guangdong'sappetiteforexoticdishesmakesitanidealmarketforwildanimalsmugglers,expertssaid.About2.8percentofChinesepeopleregularlyeatwildanimals.InGuangdong,thatfigureclimbsto4.1percent,accordingtoasurveybytheChinaAssociationofWildAnimalProtection.Guangdongresidentsofteneatsnakes,tortoisesandbears'paws.FewstatisticsareavailableonhowmanywildanimalsareeateninGuangdongeveryyear,butthemostrecentcaseofwildanimalsmugglinghelpscreatearoughpictureofhowbigthemarketis,officialsattheGuangdongwildanimalsandplantsprotectioncentersaid.Policeseizedmorethan13,000kilogramsofsmuggledwildanimalsinYangjiang,Guangdong,lastweekLocalssaidborderpoliceinYangjianginterceptedawoodenshipfullofwildanimalsthatwasanchoredoffthecoastlastTuesday.Onboard,theyfoundmorethan5,000rareanimalskeptinabout200woodencages.Amongtheanimalswere2,720monitorlizards,whichareunderfirst-classnationalprotection;30pangolins,whichareundersecond-classnationalprotection;44leatherbackturtles,whicharealsoundernational-levelprotection;2,655raretortoises,whichareunderprovince-levelprotection;and21bears'paws.Itwasthebiggestwildanimalsmugglingcaseinatleastadecade,saidasourcewithGuangdongCustoms."Wedidnotfindanybodyontheship.Weonlyfoundalotofwoodencasesandastrongfishysmellthatday,"saidHuangXiaohong,thechiefofYangjiangfrontierdefenseteam.Policesaidtheshipdidnothaveanameoralicense.Nordiditlistaportofregistry.Thishasmadethetaskofidentifyingthesmugglersverydifficult,Huangsaid.ThecaptivewildanimalshavebeensenttoGuangzhouandarenowundertheprotectionoftheGuangdongwildanimalsandplantsprotectioncenter."Wewillfeedtheliveanimalsuntilthecaseendsandthenreleasethembackintothewild,"LiTao,directorofthecenter'sinformationdepartment,toldChinaDaily.Thecenterwillalsofreezethebears'paws,andthencrematethemafterthecaseiscompleted,Lisaid.Guangdong'scustomsbureauisinvestigatingthecase.However,officialshavesofardeclinedtorevealanyspecificinformation,sayingthattheywanttoprotecttheevidence.AccordingtoareportinthelocalGuangzhouDaily,YangjiangborderpolicefoundacopyoftheNanyangSiangPau,aMalaysiannewspaper,onboardtheship.Ofthemajorillegalinternationalbusinessesplaguingthearea,animalsmugglingissecondonlytodrugsmugglingintermsofscale.Theprofitsareenormousbecausemanyofthepeoplewhosellsuchanimalsknownothingabouttheanimals'endangeredstatus.Theysellthemtosmugglersfornexttonothing.Toserveasapositiveexample,almostallofGuangdong'shigh-rankinggovernmentofficialshaverefusedtoeatwildanimals,LiTaosaid.
