China auctions off right to shoot endangered species

[Izzy]

Just incredible

China is to auction licences for foreigners to hunt wild animals, including endangered species, according to local media.
The auction will offer the right to hunt yaks, wolves and other wild animals in five western provinces.

The price of a licence will depend on the type and number of animals to be hunted, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

The auctioneers told the BBC that the sale, the first of its kind in China, would go ahead on Sunday.

A licence to hunt a wolf could go for about $200 (?105), while permission to shoot a yak could be as much as $40,000 (?21,000), the daily said.

Shooting an argali, a large wild sheep, will cost about $10,000 (?5,000) while a blue sheep will cost $2,500 (?1,300), the paper said..

"Some animals are from the first and second category of national wildlife protection, but with the strict limitations in place, the hunting could not destroy wild animal populations," the daily said.

The wolf is the only carnivore on the list of animals that could be hunted.

The licences will cover five areas of western China - Qinghai, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the autonomous regions of Ningxia and Xinjiang.

Proceeds from the auction would be used to protect wild animals, the daily said.

I love the bit about the funds derived from shooting endangered specieis being used to protect them

Amazingly there is a government out there even more stupid than ours....

[Where is Hassan Nasrallah ?]

they didnt say it was on a PS2 game yet.

[miss bomb]

something i just cannot unerstand. you can argue its a cultural preference or tradition, but it's just fucking barbaric mindlessnes.

[Nighteyes]

wtf! this pissed me off! i just can't understand it
i agree with miss bomb,it's just barbaric

[MCT]

I see this as a balancing act, nothing more.

I mean, yeah, on the surface it's stupid, but it's not as if (and this is only my belief) the overall quotas of the individual species will be high enough to endanger those particular species any further. And I challenge anyone to provide credible numbers that prove otherwise.

[T_Roxie]

Shooting even an individual of an endangered species is unbalanced. 

[SuperMike]

three words . . . Just Fucking Wrong!

[Guns N RockMusic]

Hunting isn't barbaric.  Hunting is an efficient (and only really practical) method of keeping wildlife that have lost their natural predators in check.  It never ceases to amaze me how people don't realize that hunters contribute more money to wildlife preservation than any other group.  I only take this stance when the animal in question is in appropriate or excess numbers for its habitat.  I won't be running out and shooting bald eagles anytime soon, but you can bet your ass I'll take two white-tail deer this year.  If there is a surplus of these animals in China that are endangering their own longevity, then by all means legally hunt them.  Some of you would rather see 4 animals die of starvation "naturally" in an overpopulated area than have one of the 4 humanely killed so the rest can prosper.  Next I'll here about how man is interfering with their ecosystem and how we should move out.  To that I say you lead the charge, you abandon your home that was once part of an animal's ecosystem.  Most anti-hunters are people who live in major cities who have never seen a wild animal outside of TV or a zoo.

[MCT]

Hunting isn't barbaric.? Hunting is an efficient (and only really practical) method of keeping wildlife that have lost their natural predators in check.? It never ceases to amaze me how people don't realize that hunters contribute more money to wildlife preservation than any other group.? I only take this stance when the animal in question is in appropriate or excess numbers for its habitat.? I won't be running out and shooting bald eagles anytime soon, but you can bet your ass I'll take two white-tail deer this year.? If there is a surplus of these animals in China that are endangering their own longevity, then by all means legally hunt them.? Some of you would rather see 4 animals die of starvation "naturally" in an overpopulated area than have one of the 4 humanely killed so the rest can prosper.? Next I'll here about how man is interfering with their ecosystem and how we should move out.? To that I say you lead the charge, you abandon your home that was once part of an animal's ecosystem.? Most anti-hunters are people who live in major cities who have never seen a wild animal outside of TV or a zoo.

^ A perfect example of a post that CANNOT be accused of exuding an overall sense of naivete in regards to practicality.

There are however certain things here that I'd tackle if I were interested, but only one that I really want to touch on:

...hunters contribute more money to wildlife preservation than any other group.

Cite please...