The List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection was adjusted for the first time in 32 years! Let's see the changes

Beijing, February 8 news According to the "News Hyperlink" of the Voice of China of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, recently, the new version of the "Directory of Wild Animals under National Key Protection" (hereinafter referred to as the "Directory") was officially released to the public. This is the first major adjustment to the List in our country's 32 years.

The "List" has added 517 species of wild animals, from a butterfly to a beast, all of which need human protection!

Zhang Jinshuo, Ph.D., Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, deputy director of the National Zoological Museum, and research librarian, introduced the new changes and adjustment basis of the adjusted "List" compared with the 1989 version, as well as the guiding significance of the "List" for wildlife protection behavior in the new era.

<b>What is the significance of the List? </b>

The new version of the List is directly appended to the Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and is used to protect wild animals and their habitats. For example, when dealing with illegal and criminal acts such as poaching, illegal transportation, resale and resale, and eating wild animals, the list plays a reference role in sentencing.

China only had the first Wildlife Protection Law in 1989, and it was not until this year, 32 years later, that the wildlife list was greatly revised. Only two minor revisions had been made before this, from the second to the first level of musk and pangolin.

The new version of the Directory officially promulgated on February 5, 2021 can be said to be a huge review of the current wildlife protection situation in China, which is related to the development direction of China's wildlife protection in the next 10, 20, 50 years or even longer. Therefore, it is of landmark significance.

<b>How are the levels of wildlife conservation divided? </b>

Wild animals are classified as endangered and vulnerable according to their endangered status, which comes from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an important international nature conservation organization.

The organization has developed the Red List of Threatened Species, which includes animals threatened with their survival on the Red List for protection. It includes nearly 40,000 species in the world, including animals and plants.

The protection level of wild animals in China has a first and second level, which does not fully correspond to the IUCN's "Red List of Threatened Species", but depends on the actual national conditions for reference. For example, China has designated the rare golden eagle as a national first-level protected animal, in fact, the golden eagle is still relatively widely distributed in the world, and the number is relatively large, at the level of easy to endanger or even non-dangerous.

<b>Some notable changes</b>

The biggest highlight of this revision is the addition of many species and large categories, in terms of quantity, compared with the 1989 version, a total of 517 species (classes) of wild animals have been added.

The diversity of wild animals in China is extremely rich, and it can be said that all large taxa have them. In the past, the list covered animals that were more focused on large vertebrates, some less famous, more marginalized, and even many taxa that may not have been noticed by everyone, such as butterflies, corals, longnoses and other invertebrates that were not included. Professionally, they are precious.

For example, the new version of the "list" has added a lot of snakes, salamanders, salamanders, toads, etc., especially the increase in fish, of which all species of the hippocampus genus are classified for protection.

From ancient times to the present, the expansion of human beings has occupied the homeland of animals, making the number of animals continue to decrease; now we need to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the entire ecosystem and maintaining the ecological balance.

Producer: Liang Yue

Reporter from the Central Broadcasting Corporation: Fu Zhao

Editor: Yang Yang, Pan Yuwei