In order to further respond to social concerns and promote research and scientific popularization of issues related to wildlife conservation, on April 29, the "Asian Elephant and Anti-Wildlife Abuse" seminar organized by the Political Research Office of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the "China Green Development Council" and "Green Society") was held.
An Asian elephant born in 2016 at the Kunming Zoo in Yunnan. At the age of 2, the Kunming Zoo exchanged it for Jiaozuo, Henan. After the baby elephant was sent to Henan, some netizens reported that they were found chained in jiaozuo's park, performing harmonica, handstanding, and riding for tourists, etc., which was widely suspected of being abused, and recently it has become a hot event on the Internet.
In order to truthfully grasp its recent situation, the Political Research Office of the China Green Development Council applied for information disclosure from the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Jiaozuo Qinyang hesheng Forest Zoo, Qinyang Swan Lake Ecological Park in Qinyang City, Kunming Zoo and other relevant units on January 18, 2022, but the response received was not ideal.
In order to further respond to the public's concern about the Asian elephant incident, as well as to conduct in-depth discussions on the issue of wildlife abuse, and to prevent the recurrence of wildlife abuse incidents, the conference invited a number of experts and scholars in the field of wildlife conservation and environmental justice to participate in the discussion.
Participating experts focused on how to characterize wildlife abuse, how to promote and improve relevant legislation, and promote active justice.
Zhou Jinfeng, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Green Development Council, said in his opening speech that it is necessary to learn the ethics of science and technology from the Asian elephant incident, protect wild animals, and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind. Asian elephant conservation is a beautiful "Good Story of China" business card. The 2021 elephant relocation event brought widespread international acclaim. The story of the Asian elephant reflects the chinese public's awareness of biodiversity conservation, and also reflects the participation of the whole people in biodiversity governance, which is also a business card of "China's good story".
Gu Yu, director of the Political Research Office of the China Green Development Council, introduced the relevant situation of Asian elephants and the efforts made by the Green Committee.
Professor Cao Mingde of China University of Political Science and Law put forward his own suggestions from a judicial point of view, first of all, to understand the definition of "abuse", suggesting that in the form of enumeration and generalization, animals should not suffer without reason, in terms of animal protection, not only wild animals but also raised animals, pets, etc. have not been effectively protected. In general, the mainland now lacks the improvement of legislation against animal cruelty, and we hope that the relevant departments will pay attention to it.
Lin Liu, associate professor of Hainan Normal University and doctor of asian elephant wild ecology, introduced in detail the elephant's habits, physical condition and other elephants' own physical and mental conditions.
Gao Guilin, professor of the Law School of Capital University of Economics and Business, doctoral supervisor, president of the Environmental Resources Law Research Society of the Beijing Municipal Law Society, and vice chairman of the Resources and Environment Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association, briefly analyzed the content of some of the replies of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration from the perspective of legal theory and relevant legal provisions.
Jiao Yanpeng, professor and doctoral supervisor of East China University of Political Science and Law and director of the China Environmental Crime Governance Research Center, expressed his views from the perspective of environmental criminal law.
Mang Ping, editor-in-chief of the "Nursing Life Literature Series" and director of the China Environmental Ethics Research Association, suggested that the zoo should be transformed as soon as possible, protect the physical and mental health of animals, and establish an animal rescue center to provide professional rescue to injured animals, and then return to the arms of the family.
Secretary-General of the Ethics Committee on Biology and Science (BASE) of the China Green Development Council, Associate Professor of the School of Life Sciences of Jianghan University, and winner of the Chinese Government Friendship Award, Dr. SARA PLATTO said the effects of stress on elephant brains could have significant long-term adverse effects.
Zheng Yu, Wildlife Program Manager of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, proposed five principles of animal welfare, which are commonly used as a reference framework for assessing the status of animal welfare.
Qin Xiaona, founder and honorary president of the Capital Society for the Care of Animals and a supervisor of the China Medical Foundation, hopes that by rescuing Asian elephants, more social concern will be paid attention to the survival status of performing animals, so that the illegal acts of unscrupulous businessmen who make profits from cruelty to animals can be punished.
Gao Lihong, a professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said that it is necessary to formulate relevant policies on animal protection from a legal point of view.
Ma Yong, deputy secretary-general of the China Green Development Council, said first, we will stop the occurrence of relevant illegal acts, and in the next step, we will follow up with administrative litigation and promote it in the form of environmental public interest litigation. Second, action will change the problem of individual cases, and the formulation of legal policies will regulate relevant behaviors, and legislative interpretation is imperative. Third, to promote wildlife protection, the participation of the whole people is crucial.
Next, the Green Society Media will further sort out the speeches of the participating experts and release them in detail, and the Green Society Political Research Office will also combine the speeches of the experts to finally form a draft proposal and submit it to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress.
Text/Assier, Green Duck Trial/Cherry
#Elephant##Wildlife ##小象 #