On May 12, 2023, the Xining Court in Qinghai Province concluded a case concerning the endangerment of precious and endangered wildlife.
Seven defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 4 to 11 years and 6 months for poaching 12 wild yak calves, a national first-class protected animal estimated at 500,000 yuan, and were fined heavily!
But as soon as the news came out, netizens didn't buy it!
"Why are the penalties for poaching protected animals so light? And the college student who took out the bird's nest had to pay ten years of youth, is it unjust? ”
So, is such a punishment reasonable? Are wild yaks really that expensive?
"Warriors" in the mountains - wild yaks
On the Tibetan plateau, yaks are a very common animal and even a good helper for agricultural production in every household. But this is a domestic yak, a breed domesticated by humans over hundreds of years, and this "yak" is not the same type as the "yak" in this case.
Although the two had a common ancestor earlier, 3 million years ago, they "separated", forming two independent subspecies of "domestic yak" and "wild yak" that we see today.
Not only are they not directly related, but even when they meet each other, they hate each other, and wild yaks will collectively go down the mountain to compete for the mate of the domestic yak, and the word "friendly" has nothing to do with it.
Compared with the domestic yak, the wild yak is more "burly", the average adult wild yak can grow to about 2-2.6 meters, weighing up to 500-600 kg, is a unique cattle breed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
They are covered in black-brown hair, their heavy fur falls to the ground, and they walk like a majestic general. Powerful limbs and hard paws are their secret weapons for walking on slippery and steep mountains.
In addition, in order to adapt to the cold environment of low temperature and lack of oxygen, wild yaks will also become shorter and thicker, so that they can breathe frequently and provide and store more oxygen for the body.
Of course, in addition to the difference in external body structure, their personalities are also very different. Wild yaks live in the wild for a long time, so their temper is more violent and savage than domestic yaks, and they like group action, have a keen sense of hearing, and once they hear something blowing, they will directly fight, without giving the enemy a chance to "think".
Therefore, they basically have no natural enemies on the plateau, except for humans.
A female wild yak can only give birth to one litter a year, and calves are also very easy to die, coupled with the degradation of grassland in recent years, so that the living space of wild yaks is becoming more and more scarce, so the number of wild yaks is also declining sharply.
And in order to obtain the horns and furs of wild yaks with economic value, many outlaws began to take risks, and they cleverly extended their "claws" to weaker calves.
The seven persons involved in the case hunted 12 calves of wild bison, but because they had no farming experience, they eventually killed six wild yak calves in transit, and they also had to pay for their actions.
But seeing this, some people may ask, are wild yaks really that expensive? How did you arrive at an estimate of 500,000 RMB? Could it be that law enforcement officers are "opening their mouths"?
Why are wild yaks so expensive?
The value of a wild yak cannot be calculated solely on economic value. As a unique cattle breed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and an ancient aboriginal person on the plateau, wild yaks play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance of the entire plateau, so its ecological value cannot be measured by money.
However, if it is to be reflected in economic value, then first of all, the breeding cost of wild yaks is a high expenditure, and the loss of a wild yak to the ecological environment is also huge.
As a rare species in nature, the Mainland Forestry Administration formulated relevant regulations on the valuation of wild animals as early as 2017.
The regulations also stipulate the value of wild bovines, and attach a benchmark price list, according to which a wild bovine is calculated at 50,000 yuan, but if it is a first-class protected animal, it is estimated at 10 times its benchmark price.
Therefore, the valuation of a wild yak of 500,000 yuan is not a random asking price by law enforcement personnel, but is valued according to laws and regulations, which is also very reasonable.
After all, in the face of such rare wild animals, if the punishment is not increased, it is possible that more people will join the ranks of poaching, and then wild yaks may really be completely extinct due to human intervention.
And when it comes to the bird picking case, the college student who caught the national second-class protected animal tern falcon was sentenced to 10 years, but the highest sentence for poaching the national first-class protected animal wild yak calf was only 11 years and 6 months in prison. Are national second-class protected animals more precious than first-class protected animals?
To know the law and understand the law, you must also guard the conscience in your heart
In fact, the reason why the college student who took out the bird case had to pay such a heavy price was because he knew the law and did not change it.
It is reported that the college student Yan has taken out a total of 4-6 bird nests and captured a total of 16 tern falcons, which is probably the only number left in the entire county, and he has also bought and sold these national second-class protected animals on relevant platforms many times.
Not only that, in order to make huge profits, he also took the initiative to buy a national second-class protected animal "crested eagle" from the black market, intending to raise it a little and sell it at a high price.
It can be said that Yan not only committed the crime of hunting wild animals, but also committed crimes such as "acquisition" and "resale", so the sentence of 10 years in prison is the result of several crimes.
His father even paid bribes to law enforcement officers to mitigate his sentence, and ended up in prison, which is sympathetic.
The seven people involved in the Xining case in Qinghai Province, after knowing that they had violated the law and committed crimes, voluntarily repented in court and had a good attitude.
They not only paid compensation for ecological and environmental damages, publicly apologized to the broad masses of the people, but also actively participated in the cause of public welfare protection, so that the public could see their attitude and determination, and law enforcement personnel also made fair judgments on these seven people in accordance with the relevant provisions of the law.
Therefore, there is still a difference in the nature of the two cases, which also warns us that while knowing the law and understanding the law, we must guard our bottom line, do not openly challenge the authority of the law, and learn to use legal weapons to protect our legal rights while not infringing on the interests of others.
At last:
Protecting wildlife starts with us, not harming them for the sake of momentary gain. Everything in nature pays attention to the cycle of cause and effect, so we must protect them well and not let our ecological environment be damaged.
At the same time, we must also improve our legal awareness, do not let ignorance harm ourselves, ten years of youth is precious, do not cause disaster because of momentary greed!
Finally, do you think that the maximum penalty for poaching wild yaks and calves is 11 years? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to exchange opinions!
Author: Eat La Xiaozheng
Reference: Each head is worth 500,000! The gang hunted 12 wild yaks in Cocoxili, sold 6 and died 6! 7 people sentenced Red Star News Wang Mingping 2023.5.17
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