Thousands of bamboo rats disposed in mass grave in China after temporary ban on wildlife consumption
The temporary ban on wildlife trade imposed in China because of the coronavirus pandemic has left many bamboo rat breeders in the country in limbo as they can no longer sell the animals.
Images published on Chinese social media show thousands of bamboo rats that had been disposed of in a mass grave at a farm in Dongyuan county because their breeders could no longer afford to feed them.
The five breeders who these rats belonged to reportedly lost nearly 1 million yuan ($141,000) in total in the last three months, forcing them into drastic action.
It's a problem that stems from local governments in rural parts of China, as well as the state's forestry and grassland administration and their provincial bureaus, having previously actively encouraged farmers to get into wildlife farming in a bid to alleviate poverty.
This included all kinds of wild animals, including the aforementioned bamboo rats, which were in demand before the pandemic but whose trade and consumption have been temporarily banned since February.
The novel coronavirus is suspected of originating in China's massive wildlife industry supply chain. While it is still unclear what will become of it once the outbreak is contained, the current uncertainty has farmers resorting to desperate measures.
Cheng Yongcai was one such farmer who ran a thriving operation that produced 20,000 bamboo rats a year in Qingyuan in northern Guangdong province but is now left in limbo as he awaits the government's final decision.
In the meantime, he said he had been spending money on the farm's upkeep that he is likely to never see again.
"We still haven’t been told what to do, except that we can’t sell or release or even cull them until further notice, so we’re still keeping them, and that’s been costing us about 300 yuan [$42] per day for the past three months," he shared.
Gao Guanxing, a farmer in a village near Heyuan, Guangdong, was another of the thousands who went into wildlife breeding in recent years and revealed he started farming bamboo rats in 2016 with support from the local government.
Now, however, he said the government is trying to convince him to turn to mushroom farming and is offering him $28,676 for the operation.
"After the two old bamboo rat houses are cleaned and disinfected, they will become a three-dimensional mushroom farm," he said, adding that once his mushrooms are planted and growing he’ll be able to produce 50 kilograms per day.
Any hopes that they would be allowed back into wildlife farming was likely dashed by a newly drafted directive that excluded most of these exotic animals from a list of those that could be bred and consumed.
In a tentative version of a Directory of Genetic Resources of Livestock and Poultry, the ministry listed 18 types of "traditional livestock," including pigs, cows, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, camels, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, and quails.
It also listed 13 types of "special livestock" such as sika deer, red deer, reindeer, alpacas, guinea fowls, pheasants, partridges, mallards, ostriches, minks, the American red fox, the Arctic fox, and raccoon dogs.
Only these can be bred, raised, traded, and transported for commercial purposes. Conspicuous in its absence were the likes of bamboo rats, wild boar, snakes, civet cats, and frogs, though the ministry is seeking feedback for the proposal until May 8.