Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2009
Current trends in the utilization of wildlife in China continue a tradition of satisfying material needs for meat, apparel, and medicinal and other products. Wild animals have been hunted to bolster income from agriculture and to supply the industrial sector of the economy with material goods. Decisions about conserving or protecting animals are therefore based largely upon utilitarian premises. If they decrease agricultural productivity or are harmful to humans, predatory animals are heavily persecuted.
Chinese biologists have followed initiatives, begun in the Soviet Union, of introducing alien animals to areas where they can multiply and be cropped for commercial purposes. Research also continues to be focused on the possible relocation of faunal elements within China, to develop the market for meat and skins.
However, there appears to be a growing concern for preserving certain rare, unusual, and threatened, species because they are unique to China or have beneficial or symbolic value. This concern is likely to increase as studies in animal behaviour, migration, and ecology, demonstrate that significant declines have occurred in the populations of many ‘useful’ birds and mammals.