CULLING FOR ECOLOGICAL BALANCE

    The hunt-and-kill drive at the West Lake Scenery Area and neighboring townships are actually parts of a province-wide campaign under orders of the Zhejiang Provincial Forestry Department and Public Security Department, Zhu Xiaohu said.

    The campaign, lasting from Oct. 20 till Nov. 30, has been carried out in the name of "getting rid of a public enemy" to protect people from injury or damage to their property, Zhu said.

    Zhejiang's forestry authorities estimate the current number of wild boars in the province to be more than 100,000, up from 29,000in 2000, due to the improvement of ecological environment.

    Zhejiang has launched similar campaigns to kill wild boars in recent years, and 1,360 were killed last year, Zhu said.

    Culling wild pigs is not always popular in China. In June 2006 plans to cull 100 wild boars in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province were scuppered by public opposition.

    Zhejiang's regulations on wildlife protection allow local authorities to "properly control" the population of a certain wild animal species if it is expanding too fast, noting that serves "ecological balance."

    In addition, wild boars do not enjoy privileged protection on Zhejiang's wildlife protection list, Zhu said.

    Previous reports quoted an official with the State Forestry Administration (SFA) as saying that the wild boar was listed among a group of wild animals which could be used for "scientific research and economic purposes".

    China has attached great importance to protecting wild animals and adhered to the principle of sustainable growth of wild animals' populations, he said.

    "To control their (wild boar's) number is also a step to achieve a balance for ecological environment," he said.

    "Certain species of animals are likely to pose a threat to others if their population expands too fast, such as wild boars versus snakes," he added.