Baiyun strengthens wildlife controls for COVID-19 prevention

Baiyun district in Guiyang – the capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou province – recently strengthened its controls on wildlife in response to a request to do so from the Guiyang bureau of natural resources, in order to beef up its COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

The district's department of natural resources strengthened patrols and required daily checks be made by forest protection personnel.

The instruction was given that reports be made and samples collected if wildlife corpses were discovered, that died from unknown causes. Strict precautions should also be taken against illegal hunting of wild animals.

Two wild animal breeding operations registered in Baiyun were quarantined and daily sterilizations there were ordered. The shipment of wild animals was also strictly prohibited.

Close eye contact should be kept on the health of wildlife. In the case of an abnormal death or suspected disease in wild animals, a network direct reporting system be applied for epidemic source surveillance.

Wildlife check points were arranged at five highway toll gates entering Baiyun on Jan 24.

All-day-long shifts were mounted, to inspect every vehicle from other provinces and selectively examine Guizhou vehicles -- to complete actions against wildlife transportation and sales.

The department worked with the market regulatory authority and rural areas to intensify law-enforcement inspections and crack down on illegal wildlife trafficking. Examinations were made every week of agricultural markets and street markets.

In addition, notices were issued to locals and individual businesses at agricultural markets, advising them not to hunt wild animals and not engage in illegal wildlife carriage, transportation and other related activities.

The district's department of natural resources organized for 384 of its staff to mount field patrols of wildlife breeding operations and check 23,400 vehicles for illegally transported wild animals.

There were inspections of agricultural markets and street markets and 3,000 information leaflets were handed out.