Bullfrogs and soft-shelled turtles are the latest animals to be exempted from the government's consumption ban in the newest development in China's legislative adjustment to the game meat ban, which came about in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak believed to have originated from wild animals.

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced on Thursday that these animals would be included on its list of aquatic products and thus would not be banned from consumption.

The announcement has been welcomed by many, especially animal breeders who were affected by the suspension of business.

A nationwide ban on February 24 forbidding the consumption of all terrestrial animals, except those listed on the livestock and poultry list, left many markets and farms closed. However, the exemption is expected to put some breeders back in business.

In places like Guangdong Province in southern China, bullfrogs and soft-shelled turtles are considered local delicacies, and the industry has created millions of jobs and a huge amount of revenue. Statistics from the soft-shelled turtles' association of central China's Hunan Province show that every year about 380,000 tons of soft-shelled turtles are traded across the country, employing nearly 10 million people and creating an output worth 60-80 billion yuan.

Yang Zhaoxia, director of the Ecological Law Research Center at Beijing Forestry University, said the exemption is a timely response to people's interests and demands and thus should be applauded.

The entire breeding industry has been under criticism since the coronavirus outbreak, especially the illegal practice of catching wild animals and putting them in a farm for selling.

Prof. Li Zhenji from the School of Life Sciences at Xiamen University pointed out that bullfrogs are an invasive species in China to which people have already developed mature breeding technology. He also said releasing them into the wild would threaten other wild animals.

However, while many breathe a collective sigh of relief, Zhang Xiya, a volunteer that has been engaged in animal protection for years, expressed her concern that breeders and other stakeholders might want to pressure lawmakers to make more exemptions.

Breeders of another imported frog, Thai tiger frogs, are already doing that. In Guangdong, they say they have been in the business of this domesticated frog for generations. Some are already on the verge of bankruptcy. 

According to China Business Network, a media group based in Shanghai, a provincial government in the country has filed a document asking for the exemption of civet cats, which are believed to be the intermediate host of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002-2003.  

(All images via VCG)

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