Netizens have displayed the power of the Internet, after online outcry against a possible case of butchering and selling a protected species of dolphin led to an official inquiry.
By noon on Friday, local authorities in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, released an announcement referring to a possible criminal case involving the selling of a protected species. The case may not have been brought to light, had it not been for uproar on social media, with an online campaign for justice launched on Thursday afternoon.
Screenshot via Weibo
Weibo account @Zhuhaitongchenghui, which usually posts local updates, uploaded several candid photos along with an anonymous report from a netizen early on Thursday evening. The photos and report showed how some locals were selling animal parts that apparently belonged to a protected species of dolphin.
The creature in the photos, as some netizens pointed out, is highly likely to be a Chinese white dolphin, a species regarded as endangered as the giant panda by China's wildlife conservation body. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, there are less than 2,500 Chinese white dolphins left in the wild.
“A national top-class protected species, the Chinese white dolphin. It deserves years in jail,” commented netizen @Shoutuo under the post. @Zhuhaitongchenghui later reposted the original report, and said the account operator had been in touch with local authorities.
Screenshot via Weibo
Screenshot via Weibo
In response to the netizens' fury, Zhuhai's Marine Agriculture and Water Affairs Bureau on Friday morning confirmed via Weibo that it had launched an investigation into the case.
Screenshot via Weibo
The bureau announced to the public on Friday afternoon that three locals had been summoned to the city’s law enforcement department as part of a further inquiry into the case.
According to the three men, they found the creature floating in the water while they were fishing, and discovered it was a dead dolphin-like animal which local fishermen commonly dub “white taboo,” with such a creature considered an unlucky omen. The three took it back to shore to sell on, and ate the parts they could not sell.
The creature was confirmed as being a species of dolphin, and the body parts that had not been sold or eaten had been seized for further examination. The investigation will determine whether the three local people will face criminal charges. No matter the outcome of the investigation, the three men will be punished for trading in wild animals.
The bureau's reaction to the public outcry has cooled down the rage, and returned the online discussion concerning the case to a more rational level, as netizens began discussing the laws related to the case, as well as how best to save a stranded dolphin.
