Wild Animal Conservation Law of China

· Document Number：Order No. 47 of the President of the People's Republic of China

· Area of Law： Resources

· Level of Authority： Laws

· Date issued：07-02-2016

· Effective Date：01-01-2017

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Order of the President of China
(No. 47)
Wild Animal Conservation Law of China, as revised and adopted at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on July 2, 2016, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on January 1, 2017.
President of the People's Republic of China: Xi Jinping
July 2, 2016
Wild Animal Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 4th Session of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on November 8, 1988; amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision to Amend the Wild Animal Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 11th Session of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on August 28, 2004; amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision to Amend Certain Laws adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress on August 27, 2009; and revised at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on July 2, 2016)
Table of Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Conservation of Wild Animals and Their Habitats
Chapter III Wild Animal Administration
Chapter IV Legal Liability
Chapter V Supplemental Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of conserving wild animals, saving rare and endangered species of wild animals, maintaining biological diversity and ecological balance, and advancing ecological civilization.
Article 2 The conservation of wild animals and associated activities within the territory of the People's Republic of China and other sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China shall be governed by this Law.
“Wild animals” conserved in this Law means the rare and endangered species of terrestrial and aquatic wild animals and the terrestrial wild animals of significant ecological, scientific, or social value.
“Wild animals and their products” in this Law means the whole (including spawns and eggs), parts, and derivatives of wild animals.
The conservation of aquatic wild animals other than the rare and endangered species of aquatic wild animals shall be governed by the Fisheries Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws.
Article 3 Wild animal resources are owned by the state.
The state protects the lawful rights and interests of organizations and individuals engaging in wild animal conservation and associated activities in accordance with the law, such as scientific research and artificial breeding.
Article 4 The state applies the principles of “conservation first, regulated utilization, and stringent supervision” to wild animals, encourages scientific research on wild animals, cultivates citizens' awareness of wild animal conservation, and promotes the harmonious development of human and nature.
Article 5 The state conserves wild animals and their habitats. The people's governments at or above the county level shall develop general plans and measures for the conservation of wild animals and their habitats, and include the funding for the conservation of wild animals into their budgets.
The state encourages citizens, legal persons, and other organizations to participate in wild animal conservation activities by donations, financial aids, voluntary services, and other means in accordance with the law, and supports public undertakings for wild animal conservation.
“Wild animal habitats” in this Law means the major areas where the wild populations of wild animals live and breed.
Article 6 All organizations and individuals shall have the obligation to conserve wild animals and their habitats. It shall be prohibited to illegally hunt wild animals or destruct the habitats of wild animals.
All organizations and individuals shall have the right to report violations of this Law to or file accusations of violations of this Law with the relevant departments and authorities. The competent departments of wild animal conservation and other relevant departments and authorities shall, in a timely manner, handle the reports or accusations in accordance with the law.
Article 7 The competent departments of forestry and fisheries of the State Council shall respectively take charge of the conservation of terrestrial and aquatic wild animals nationwide.
The competent departments of forestry and fisheries of the local people's governments at or above the county level shall respectively take charge of the conservation of terrestrial and aquatic wild animals within their respective administrative regions.
Article 8 The people's governments at all levels shall strengthen the publicity, education, and popularization of science on wild animal conservation, and encourage and support activities of publicity of the laws and regulations and the knowledge on wild animal conservation conducted by the basic-level people's autonomous organizations, social organizations, enterprises, public institutions, and volunteers.
Education administrative departments and schools shall provide students with education on wild animal conservation knowledge.
News media shall conduct publicity of the laws and regulations and the knowledge on wild animal conservation, and conduct supervision by public opinions against illegal acts.
Article 9 Organizations and individuals that have made remarkable achievements in wild animal conservation or scientific research on wild animals shall be rewarded by the people's governments at or above the county level.
Chapter II Conservation of Wild Animals and Their Habitats
Article 10 The state conducts conservation of wild animals by classification and grading.
The state places the rare and endangered species of wild animals under priority conservation. Species of wild animals under state priority conservation are divided into wild animals under Grade-I conservation and wild animals under Grade-II conservation. The list of wild animals under state priority conservation shall be developed by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council after organization of scientific evaluation, and adjustments to the list shall be determined every five years according to results of evaluation. The list of wild animals under state priority conservation shall be reported to the State Council for approval and publication.
Wild animals under local priority conservation are wild animals under priority conservation by provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government other than those under state priority conservation. The lists of wild animals under local priority conservation shall be developed, adjusted, and published by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government after organization of scientific evaluation.
The lists of terrestrial wild animals of significant ecological, scientific, or social value shall be developed, adjusted, and published by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council after organization of scientific evaluation.
Article 11 The competent departments of wild animal conservation of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, on a regular basis, organize, or authorize relevant scientific research institutions to conduct, survey, monitoring, and evaluation of the status of wild animals and their habitats, and establish and improve the archives of wild animals and their habitats.
The survey, monitoring, and evaluation of the status of wild animals and their habitats shall include the following:
(1) Distribution areas and population sizes and structures in the wild of wild animals.
(2) Areas and ecological status of the habitats of wild animals.
(3) Major factors threatening wild animals and their habitats.
(4) Artificial breeding of wild animals and other circumstances requiring survey, monitoring, and evaluation.
Article 12 The competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments of the State Council, determine and issue the lists of major habitats of wild animals according to the results of the survey, monitoring, and evaluation of the status of wild animals and their habitats.
The people's governments at or above the provincial level shall delimit relevant nature reserves in accordance with the law to conserve wild animals and their important habitats and protect, restore and improve the living environment of wild animals. Where the conditions for the delimitation of relevant nature reserves are not met, the people's governments at or above the county level may conserve wild animals and their habitats by delimiting no-hunting (or no-fishing) zones or prescribing closed hunting (or fishing) seasons or other means.
Human disturbances threatening the living and breeding of wild animals, such as introducing alien species into relevant nature reserves, creating pure forests, and excessively spraying pesticides, shall be prohibited or restricted.
The relevant nature reserves shall be delimited and administered in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations.
Article 13 The people's governments at or above the county level and the relevant departments shall, during the relevant development and utilization planning, take into full consideration the needs for the conservation of wild animals and their habitats, analyze, predict, and evaluate the possible overall impacts of the implementation of the plans on the conservation of wild animals and their habitats, and avoid or reduce the possible adverse consequences of the implementation of the plans.
It shall be prohibited to construct, in relevant nature reserves, any projects which are not allowed to be constructed under relevant laws and regulations. The site and line selection for airport, railway, highway, water conservancy and hydropower, cofferdams, sea reclamation, and other construction projects shall avoid relevant nature reserves and wild animals' migration routes; and if the avoidance thereof is impossible, measures such as the construction of migration channels for wild animals and fish passage facilities shall be taken to eliminate or reduce the adverse impacts on wild animals.
Where any construction project may impact the relevant nature reserves or wild animals' migration routes, the departments in charge of approval of environmental impact assessment documents shall, in the process of approving environmental impact assessment documents, solicit the opinions of the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council if wild animals under state priority conservation are involved; or solicit the opinions of the competent departments of wild animal conservation of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government if wild animals under local priority conservation are involved.
Article 14 The competent departments of wild animal conservation at all levels shall oversee and monitor the impacts of environment on wild animals. If any environmental impact causes harm to wild animals, the competent departments of wild animal conservation shall investigate and handle such impacts in conjunction with the relevant departments.
Article 15 Where the wild animals under state or local priority conservation are threatened by any natural disaster, major environmental pollution accident, or other emergency, the local people's governments shall take emergency rescue measures in a timely manner.
The competent departments of wild animal conservation at or above the county level shall organize the sheltering and rescue of wild animals in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state.
It shall be prohibited to trade in wild animals and their products in the name of sheltering or rescuing wild animals.
Article 16 The competent departments of wild animal conservation and the competent departments of veterinarians of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, according to the division of their functions, monitor the epidemic sources and epidemic diseases of wild animals, organize prediction, forecasting, and other work, develop contingency plans for epidemic situations of wild animals, and report them to the people's governments at the same levels for approval or recordation.
The competent departments of wild animal conservation, the competent departments of veterinarians, the competent departments of health of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, according to the division of their functions, be responsible for the prevention and control management of infectious diseases of animals related to anthropozoonosis.
Article 17 The state shall strengthen the conservation of genetic resources of wild animals, and conduct rescuing conservation of the endangered species of wild animals.
The competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments of the State Council, conduct planning on the conservation and utilization of genetic resources of wild animals, establish a national gene bank of genetic resources of wild animals, and implement priority conservation of the genetic resources of rare and endangered species of wild animals originating in China.
Article 18 The relevant local people's governments shall take measures to prevent and control the damage possibly caused by wild animals to guarantee the safety of human beings and livestock and the agricultural and forestry production.
Article 19 Where any human casualties or any crop or other property losses are caused by the conservation of wild animals as required to be conserved under this Law, the local people's governments shall make compensation. The specific measures shall be developed by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government. The relevant local people's governments may impel insurance institutions to provide insurance compensation for damage caused by wild animals.
The relevant local people's governments shall be subsidized by the central finance in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state for the funding necessary for them to take measures for preventing and controlling the damage caused by wild animals under state priority conservation and make compensation.
Chapter III Wild Animal Administration
Article 20 It shall be prohibited to hunt or catch wild animals or otherwise disturb the living and breeding of wild animals within the relevant nature reserves and the no-hunting (or no-fishing) zones or during the closed hunting (or fishing) seasons, except as otherwise specified by laws and regulations.
During the migration periods of wild animals, hunting or catching wild animals shall be prohibited, and activities otherwise disturbing the living and breeding of wild animals shall be strictly restricted, within the migration routes other than the areas prescribed in the preceding paragraph. The scope of migration routes and the activities disturbing the living and breeding of wild animals shall be prescribed and published by the people's governments at or above the county level or their competent departments of wild animal conservation.
Article 21 Hunting, catching, or killing wild animals under state priority conservation shall be prohibited.
Where it is necessary to hunt or catch any wild animals under Grade-I state conservation for scientific research, population control, or monitoring of epidemic sources and epidemic diseases or under other special circumstances, an application for a special hunting or catching permit shall be filed with the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council. Where it is necessary to hunt or catch any wild animals under Grade-II state conservation, an application for a special hunting or catching permit shall be filed with the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government.
Article 22 Whoever intends to hunt or catch any wild animals not under state priority conservation shall obtain, in accordance with the law, a hunting or catching permit issued by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the local government at or above the county level, and be subject to the hunting quota management.
Article 23 A hunter or catcher of wild animals shall hunt or catch wild animals according to the species, quantity, location, tools, means, and time limit as set forth in the special hunting or catching permit or the hunting license.
Whoever intends to hunt or catch any wild animals with a gun must obtain a gun license issued by the public security authority.
Article 24 Hunting with poisons, explosives, electric shock and electronic trapping devices, hunting snares and clamps, gun traps, volley guns, and other tools shall be prohibited, and illuminated hunting at night, annihilation hunting by encirclement, and hunting by destruction of nests, fire attack, smoke attack, net capturing, and other means shall be prohibited, except that net capturing or electronic trapping is necessary for scientific research.
The prohibited hunting and catching tools and means other than those as set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed and published by the local people's governments at or above the county level.
Article 25 The state supports the artificial breeding of wild animals under state priority conservation by relevant scientific research institutions for the purpose of species conservation.
The artificial breeding of wild animals under state priority conservation for any purpose other than that as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be subject to a licensing system. Whoever intends to artificially breed wild animals under state priority conservation shall obtain an artificial breeding license upon approval of the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, except that the State Council provides otherwise for the approval authorities.
In the artificial breeding of wild animals under state priority conservation, the progeny and provenance under artificial breeding shall be used, and species pedigree, breeding archives, and individual data shall be maintained. Where it is necessary to adopt wild provenance for the purpose of species conservation, the provisions of Articles 21 and 23 of this Law shall apply.
“Progeny under artificial breeding” in this Law means the offspring individuals bred and born under artificial control with their parents also born under artificial control.
Article 26 The artificial breeding of wild animals under state priority conservation shall be conducive to species conservation and scientific research thereon, and may not destroy the wild population resources; it shall be ensured according to the habits of wild animals that the necessary conditions for activity space, living and breeding, and hygiene and health of wild animals are met, there are places, facilities, and technologies suitable for the breeding purposes and varieties and development scales, and the relevant technical standards and epidemic prevention requirements are satisfied; and no wild animals shall be abused.
The competent departments of wild animal conservation of the people's governments at or above the provincial level may, as needed for conservation of wild animals under state priority conservation, organize the release of wild animals under state priority conservation to wild environment.
Article 27 It shall be prohibited to sell, purchase, or utilize wild animals under state priority conservation and their products.
Where it is necessary to sell, purchase, or utilize wild animals under state priority conservation and their products for scientific research, artificial breeding, public display or performance, or cultural relics conservation or under other special circumstances, the approval from the competent departments of wild animal conservation of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be obtained, and special labels shall be obtained and used in accordance with the relevant provisions to ensure traceability, except that the State Council provides otherwise for the approval authorities.
The scope of and the administrative measures for the special labels for wild animals under state priority conservation and their products shall be developed by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council.
Whoever sells or utilizes wild animals not under state priority conservation shall provide certificates on legal sources such as hunting or import and export.
Whoever sells wild animals prescribed in paragraphs 2 and 4 of this Article shall also attach quarantine certificates in accordance with the law.
Article 28 Wild animals under state priority conservation for which the artificial breeding technologies are mature and stable shall, upon scientific demonstration, be included in the list of wild animals under state priority conservation for artificial breeding as developed by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council. For wild animals and their products included in the list, the special labels may be directly obtained based on the artificial breeding licenses according to the annual production quantities authorized by the competent departments of wild animal conservation of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the wild animals and their products may be sold and utilized based on the special labels to ensure traceability.
When the list of wild animals under state priority conservation as mentioned in Article 10 of this Law is adjusted, the artificial populations of the wild animals for which the relevant artificial breeding technologies are mature and stable as prescribed in the preceding paragraph may no longer be included in the list of wild animals under state priority conservation according to the status of conservation of relevant wild populations, and management measures different from those for wild populations may be taken, but the artificial breeding licenses and special labels shall be obtained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 25 and paragraph 1 of this Article of this Law.
Article 29 The utilization of wild animals and their products shall be primarily based on artificial breeding populations, be conducive to the maintenance of wild populations, and satisfy the requirements of developing ecological civilization; social morality shall be respected; and laws and regulations and the relevant provisions issued by the state shall be complied with.
Where wild animals and their products are distributed and utilized as drugs, the laws and regulations on drug administration shall also be complied with.
Article 30 It shall be prohibited to produce or distribute food made of wild animals under state priority conservation and their products or food made of wild animals not under state priority conservation and their products without certificates on legal sources.
It shall be prohibited to illegally purchase wild animals under state priority conservation and their products for eating.
Article 31 It shall be prohibited to publish advertisements for selling, purchasing, or utilizing wild animals or for prohibited hunting or catching tools. It shall be prohibited to publish advertisements for the illegal sale, purchase or utilization of products of wild animals.
Article 32 Online trading platforms, commodity trading markets, and other trading venues shall be prohibited from providing trading services for the illegal sale, purchase, and utilization of wild animals and their products or prohibited hunting or catching tools.
Article 33 Whoever transports, carries, or delivers wild animals under state priority conservation or their products or wild animals prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article 28 of this Law or their products out of a county shall hold or attach the duplicate of the license or approval document or the special labels prescribed in Article 21, 25, 27, or 28 of this Law and the quarantine certificates.
Whoever transports wild animals not under state priority conservation out of a county shall hold the certificates on legal sources such as hunting or import and export and the quarantine certificates.
Article 34 The competent departments of wild animal conservation of the people's governments at or above the county level shall supervise and administer the scientific research, artificial breeding, public display or performance, and other activities utilizing wild animals and their products.
The other relevant departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, according to the division of their functions, supervise and inspect the sale, purchase, utilization, transportation, and delivery, among others, of wild animals and their products.
Article 35 The lists of wild animals and their products prohibited or restricted from trade under international conventions concluded or acceded to by the People's Republic of China shall be developed, adjusted, and published by the administrative authority of the state in charge of the import and export of endangered species.
To import and export wild animals or their products included in the lists in the preceding paragraph or export wild animals under state priority conservation or their products, the approval from the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council or from the State Council shall be obtained, and the certificate allowing import and export issued by the administrative authority of the state in charge of the import and export of endangered species shall also be obtained. Entry and exit quarantine shall be implemented in accordance with the law. The Customs shall handle the customs clearance formalities on the basis of the certificate allowing import and export and quarantine certificates in accordance with the relevant provisions.
The export of any species of wild animals involving science and technology confidentiality shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the State Council.
The wild animals included in the list in paragraph 1 of this Article shall, upon confirmation by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council, be administered as wild animals under state priority conservation within the scope of application of this Law.
Article 36 The state shall organize international cooperation and exchange on wild animal conservation and relevant law enforcement; and establish an inter-departmental coordination mechanism for preventing and suppressing the smuggling of and illicit trading in wild animals and their products, and take action to prevent and suppress the smuggling of and illicit trading in wild animals and their products.
Article 37 The introduction of any species of wild animals from abroad shall be subject to the approval of the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council. Where any species of wild animals included in the list in paragraph 1 of Article 35 of this Law is introduced from abroad, the certificate allowing import and export shall also be obtained in accordance with the law. Entry quarantine shall be implemented in accordance with the law. The Customs shall handle the customs clearance formalities on the basis of the import approval document or the certificate allowing import and export and the quarantine certificate in accordance with the relevant provisions.
Where any species of wild animals is introduced from abroad, safe and reliable preventive measures shall be taken to prevent the wild animals from entering wild environment and avoid any damage to the ecosystem. If it is necessary to release them to wild environment, it shall comply with the relevant provisions issued by the state.
Article 38 Any organization or individual that releases captured wild animals to wild environment shall select the local species suitable for surviving in the wild at the places of release, and such release shall cause no disturbances in the normal life and production of local residents, and avoid any damage to the ecosystem. Where any organization or individual that releases wild animals at will causes any bodily injury or property damage to any other person or causes any damage to the ecosystem, the organization or individual shall be held liable in accordance with the law.
Article 39 It shall be prohibited to forge, alter, purchase, sell, transfer, or lease the special hunting or catching permits, the hunting licenses, the artificial breeding licenses or special labels, the approval documents for selling, purchasing, or utilizing wild animals under state priority conservation or their products, the certificates allowing import and export, or the import and export approval documents, among others.
The information on issuance of the relevant licenses, special labels, and approval documents as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be disclosed to the public in accordance with the law.
Article 40 Foreigners intending to conduct field surveys or make films or videos of wild animals under state priority conservation in China shall be subject to the approval of the competent departments of wild animal conservation of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government or the entities authorized by them, and comply with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations.
Article 41 The measures for the administration of wild animals under local priority conservation and other wild animals not under state priority conservation shall be developed by the people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government or their standing committees.
Chapter IV　Legal Liability
Article 42 Where a competent department of wild animal conservation or any other relevant department or authority fails to make an administrative licensing decision in accordance with the law, fails to investigate and punish any violation of the law after discovering it or receiving a report on it or legally investigate and punish the violation of the law, abuses its power, or otherwise fails to perform its functions in accordance with the law, the people's government at the same level or the relevant department or authority of the people's government at a higher level shall order it to take corrective action, and take disciplinary action of a demerit, a major demerit, or demotion against the liable official in charge and other directly liable persons; if the consequences of the conduct are serious, it shall take disciplinary action of removal from office or expulsion against them, and the primary person in charge thereof shall resign to assume responsibility for the conduct; or if the conduct is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 43 Violators of paragraph 3 of Article 12 or paragraph 2 of Article 13 of this Law shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations.
Article 44 Whoever, in violation of paragraph 3 of Article 15 of this Law, trades in wild animals or their products in the name of sheltering or recuing wild animals shall be fined not less than two nor more than ten times the value of the wild animals or their products by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level, with the wild animals or their products and all illegal income confiscated, and the relevant information on the violation shall be recorded in the violator's social credit file and announced to the public; and if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 45 Whoever, in violation of Article 20, Article 21, paragraph 1 of Article 23, or paragraph 1 of Article 24, hunts or catches any wild animal under state priority conservation in a relevant nature reserve or a no-hunting (or no-fishing) zone or during a closed hunting (or fishing) season, hunts, catches, or kills any wild animal under state priority conservation without a special hunting or catching permit or against the requirements of a special hunting or catching permit, or hunts or catches any wild animal under state priority conservation with a prohibited tool or by a prohibited means shall be fined not less than two nor more than ten times the value of the catch or if there is no catch, be fined not less than 10,000 yuan nor more than 50,000 yuan by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level, the oceanic law enforcement department, or the administrative authority of the relevant reserve according to the division of their functions, with the catch, the hunting or catching tool, and all illegal income confiscated and the special hunting or catching permit revoked; and if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 46 Whoever, in violation of Article 20, Article 21, paragraph 1 of Article 23, or paragraph 1 of Article 24, hunts or catches any wild animal not under state priority conservation in a relevant nature reserve or a no-hunting (or no-fishing) zone or during a closed hunting (or fishing) season, hunts, catches, or kills any wild animal not under state priority conservation without a special hunting or catching permit or against the requirements of a special hunting or catching permit, or hunts or catches any wild animal not under state priority conservation with a prohibited tool or by a prohibited means shall be fined not less than the value nor more than five times the value of the catch or if there is no catch, be fined not less than 2,000 yuan nor more than 10,000 yuan by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level or the administrative authority of the relevant reserve according to the division of their functions, with the catch, the hunting or catching tool, and all illegal income confiscated and the special hunting or catching permit revoked; and if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Whoever, in violation of paragraph 2 of Article 23 of this Law, hunts or catches any wild animal with a gun without obtaining a gun license, which constitutes a violation of public security administration, shall be punished in accordance with the law by the public security authority for violating public security administration; or if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 47 Whoever, in violation of paragraph 2 of Article 25 of this Law, breeds any wild animals under state priority conservation or any wild animals prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article 28 of this Law without obtaining an artificial breeding license shall be fined not less than the value nor more than five times the value of the wild animals and their products by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level, with the wild animals and their products confiscated.
Article 48 Whoever, in violation of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 27, paragraph 1 of Article 28, or paragraph 1 of Article 33 of this Law, uses without approval, fails to obtain, or fails to use as required any special labels, or sells, purchases, utilizes, transports, carries, or delivers any wild animals under state priority conservation or their products or any wild animals prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article 28 of this Law or their products without holding or attaching the duplicate of the artificial breeding license or the approval document or the special labels shall be fined not less than two nor more than ten times the value of the wild animals or their products by the competent department of wild animal conservation or the administrative department for industry and commerce of the people's government at or above the county level according to the division of their functions, with the wild animals or their products and all illegal income confiscated; if the circumstances are serious, the artificial breeding license shall be revoked, the approval document shall be cancelled, and the special labels shall be retracted; and if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Whoever, in violation of paragraph 4 of Article 27 or paragraph 2 of Article 33 of this Law, sells, utilizes, or transports any wild animals not under state priority conservation without the certificates on legal sources shall be fined not less than the value nor more than five times the value of the wild animals by the competent department of wild animal conservation or the administrative department for industry and commerce of the people's government at or above the county level according to the division of their functions, with the wild animals confiscated.
Whoever, in violation of paragraph 5 of Article 27 or Article 33 of this Law, sells, transports, carries, or delivers relevant wild animals or their products without holding or attaching quarantine certificates shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 49 Whoever, in violation of Article 30 of this Law, produces or distributes any food made of wild animals under state priority conservation or their products or wild animals not under state priority conservation or their products without certificates on legal sources or illegally purchases wild animals under state priority conservation or their products for eating shall be ordered to stop the illegal act and be fined not less than two nor more than ten times the value of the wild animals or their products by the competent department of wild animal conservation or the administrative department for industry and commerce of the people's government at or above the county level according to the division of their functions, with the wild animals or their products and all illegal income confiscated; and if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 50 Whoever, in violation of Article 31 of this Law, publishes advertisements for selling, purchasing, or utilizing wild animals or their products or for prohibited hunting or catching tools shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 51 Whoever, in violation of Article 32 of this Law, provides trading services for the illegal sale, purchase, or utilization of wild animals or their products or for prohibited hunting or catching tools shall be ordered to stop the illegal act and take corrective action during a specified period, with all illegal income confiscated, and be fined not less than two nor more than five times the value of the illegal income or if there is no illegal income, be fined not less than 10,000 yuan nor more than 50,000 yuan by the administrative department for industry and commerce of the people's government at or above the county level; and if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 52 Whoever, in violation of Article 35 of this Law, imports or exports wild animals or their products shall be punished by the Customs, inspection and quarantine department, public security authority, and oceanic law enforcement authority in accordance with laws, administrative regulations, and the relevant provisions issued by the state; or if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 53 Whoever, in violation of paragraph 1 of Article 37 of this Law, introduces from abroad any species of wild animals shall be fined not less than 50,000 yuan nor more than 250,000 yuan by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level, with the introduced wild animals confiscated; and if the introduced wild animals fail to undergo the entry quarantine formalities in accordance with the law, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Quarantine of Entry and Exit Animals and Plants; and if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 54 Whoever, in violation of paragraph 2 of Article 37 of this Law, releases any wild animals introduced from abroad to wild environment shall be ordered to recapture such animals during a specified period and be fined not less than 10,000 yuan nor more than 50,000 yuan by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level; and if the violator fails to do so during the specified period, the competent department of wild animal conservation shall recapture such animals on behalf of the violator or take measures to reduce the impacts, with all costs necessary assumed by the violator ordered to recapture such animals during the specified period.
Article 55 Whoever, in violation of paragraph 1 of Article 39 of this Law, forges, alters, purchases, sells, transfers, or leases the relevant permits, licenses, special labels, or relevant approval documents shall be fined not less than 50,000 yuan nor more than 250,000 yuan by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level, with the illicit permits, licenses, special labels, or relevant approval documents and all illegal income confiscated; and if the violation constitutes a violation of public security administration, the violator shall be punished in accordance with the law by the public security authority for violating public security administration; or if the violation is criminally punishable, the offender shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.
Article 56 The physical property confiscated under this Law shall be handled by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the people's government at or above the county level or the entity authorized by it in accordance with the relevant provisions.
Article 57 The evaluation standards and methods for the values of the catches and the values of wild animals and their products as prescribed in this Law shall be developed by the competent department of wild animal conservation of the State Council.
Chapter V Supplemental Provisions
Article 58 This Law shall come into force on January 1, 2017.