BEIJING: A farmer who was fined $14,000 for trapping protected wild birds in a net he put up to protect his crops has been allowed to make the payment in the form of environment-related labor, according to the court that tried his case.
The recent case in Chibi, a county-level city in Hubei province, raised a discussion about illegal behavior that impacts the protection of wild animals, and reminded the area’s large rural population of the risk involved, experts said. The defendant, a 67-year-old man surnamed Liu, was relieved when the verdict was announced by the mobile court on a visit to his community in June, as he was unable to afford the penalty. In December 2020, Liu erected a sticky, U-shaped net, 70 meters long and 3 meters high, around three sides of his plot to prevent his vegetables from being damaged by birds. About ten days later, 12 dead birds were found stuck to the net.
Six of the 12 were under second-class national protection and five were nationally protected terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value. The twelfth bird had been dead for too long to identify. The total estimated loss was about 100,000 yuan ($14,000), according to the investigation undertaken by the Chibi Forest Public Security Bureau.
The People’s Procuratorate of Xianning, the city that administers Chibi, reviewed the case and initiated civil public interest litigation. Liu was required to cover the loss, as he had “hunted wild birds using prohibited methods, in areas and during periods when hunting was banned”, according to Zhang Tao, deputy chief judge of the No 3 civil adjudication tribunal of intermediate people’s court of Xianning. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
