China Announces Difficult Times for Wildlife Smugglers

China is keen on making wildlife smugglers go out of business. The nation plans to scale efforts to protect its endangered creatures, by discouraging poaching activities and illegal animal trade. It seems that the fight such kind of operation disrupting the balance of ecosystems will receive a much-needed financial support.

"China has paid great attention to the protection of endangered species and has achieved significant progress since it joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1981," declared Yin Hong, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, China Daily reports.

This is one of the five organizations that will do everything in their power to protect the fate of vulnerable animals like elephants, rhinoceros and sharks, among other seven species currently threatened by natural and man-made factors.

At this point in time, they have to find effective methods of changing mentalities, a rather difficult task taking into account that the Chinese often think about purchasing parts of animals hoping their presumed miraculous powers will cure a wide series of deadly diseases, like cancer.

This dangerous trend is correlated with the fashion industry that skins thousands of rare animals every year. All in all, both factors have a devastating impact on wildlife representatives.

"Due to traditional Chinese medicine and people's eating habits, the demand for wild animals and plants is still great in China," reveal the authorities.

As a result, appropriate funds will be linked to improved technology, aiming to decrease significantly the number of environmental crimes. So far, authorities blame poor enforcement for their lack of visible results in preserving the fate of endangered creatures.

The new project, starting this year and ending in 2015, is expected to trigger improvement changes in China, while attracting the collaboration of other countries, mostly from in Africa and Southeast Asia.