"Empty" forest

Hunting traps on sale in the local market

Specimen of a brown bear head

In their hunt for money, poachers constantly have their eye on animals in the Changbai Mountain. Bears, wild pigs, roe deer, sable, Rana chensinensis... Officials supposedly take steps to prevent the sale of these wild animals year after year, but they are unable to save them from a grisly end.

Several months ago, Shen Xiaohui led a group of researchers on a visit into the nature reserve. In contrast to ten years earlier, they found no trace of any animals apart from a few footprints.

"In theory the forest is still here; in reality there is nothing left," Shen said. Overhunting, as well as human activity, has effectively destroyed the habitat of wild animals.

In an ordinary family home of Erdaobaihe Township, the China Youth Daily reporters saw the body of a black bear, 50 centimeters long, which had been kept in a freezer for two years. The bear, about five months old, was shot while eating pine nuts. This frozen bear-cub bears witness to a history of relentless slaughter in the Changbai Mountain.

Poaching and private trading are still common in the area. In spite of the dwindling number of bears, some people still make a living by hunting them. The heads of killed bears could be made into specimens and sold at a pretty high price. Their paws can sell at a price from 1,000 (US$146.27) to 1,500 yuan (US$219.4) per kilogram. A dish of cooked paws will cost over 2,000 yuan (US$292.54).

It is quiet in the Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve in winter. A blanket of snow covers everything. But only in the deep forest can one find any trace of squirrels and birds. "The area has been chopped up like a piece of meat between the government, the wealthy, and the general public," a local government employee grumbled. "Who knows how long till there is nothing left?"

(China.org.cn by Wang Wei, January 5, 2009)