Law enforcement officers in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has launched thorough inspections of markets, restaurants, train stations and ports to crack down on the trade of wildlife.

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, 65 law officers imposed a spot check on four wildlife trading centers in the city's Baiyun District.

At 5:10 a.m., a van emerged at Xinyuan Market, the largest wildlife trading center in Guangzhou, and a man in his 30s jumped out of the van and began unloading goods.

The law enforcement officers immediately snatched all the game catches on the van including pheasants, foxes, snakes and martens. Around 8:00 am, all the traders who had brought animals to the market were apprehended.

Xinyuan, Chatou, Dongbao and Nanjin markets in the Baiyun district are four largest wildlife trading centers in Guangzhou with a daily trade earnings exceeding one million yuan (about US$120,000). The figure could amount to 1.9 million yuan (some US$230,000) in Xinyuan, with the annual figure reaching 700-800 million yuan (anywhere from US$85 million to 97 million).

During their inspection tour of the four markets, the law enforcement officers seized a total of 267 pheasants, 30 night cranes, 54 foxes, six martens, some 30 sparrows, 20 turtledoves and 25 kilograms of snakes. The confiscated game has been transferred to the Guangzhou Wildlife Protection Center.

A trader from Qingyuan County was at a loss, saying that he had hardly expected such a rigid and stringent control in Guangzhou and promised he would not trade such hunted game any more.

Residents in the city of Guangzhou are famed for their taste for wild game, as epitomized by the popular saying that "Guangzhou people are fond of eating anything four-legged except chairs."

To date, a few scientists in Hong Kong said they believe the SARS virus had jumped from wildlife to humans. So local government departments in Guangdong decided to mete out a heavy blow against the trade of hunted game and rid locals of the unhealthy habit of eating wildlife.

Nowadays, law officials are busy patrolling markets, restaurants, and any unusual bustling sites where hunted game was be traded and killed have become quiet and at peace. And some traders are seen playing mah-jong inside their closed shops.

However, a few traders may look for clandestine channels to trade wild game, said Zhang Weiliang, deputy director of the Forestry Bureau of Baiyun District. In order to stamp out the illegal trade, law enforcement officers are also conducting surveys in airports and railway stations to control the entry of wildlife.

More than 10,000 wild animals have been seized over the past two days at Baiyun Airport.

Meanwhile, the Guangdong provincial government is appealing to local residents to adopt hygienic eating habits in an effort to contain spread of the virus from wildlife to humans.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2003)