Xinhua Insight | Catching "Wild Boars" for Free? Scenic Area "Eye-catching" Projects Pose Risks

Tourists catch "wild boars," "wild rabbits," and "pheasants" with their bare hands in the hunting grounds of a scenic area, and they can take them away if they catch them. Recently, a "bare-handed hunting" tourism project in a scenic area in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, has attracted attention on the internet, sparking controversy. A responsible official from the Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism stated that they will coordinate with relevant departments to further regulate the safety of the project, as well as the standards for quarantine and slaughter.

Using "standing out" to attract traffic, "wild boar" is actually a hybrid pig.

During the National Day holiday, a netizen shared a unique travel experience at the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area in Mianyang on a social media platform. In the video, a group of young people chased and cornered a "wild boar" in the forest, eventually capturing one. At the end of the video, a table of delicious dishes was shown. Subsequently, this "hand-catching hunt" tourism project attracted more attention. "Isn't the wild boar a wild animal?" "I've been there before, and it was terrifying when such a big pig charged at us." Comments on the internet were filled with discussions. After the public opinion escalated, the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area responded, stating that the so-called "wild boar" in the video was actually a hybrid of wild boar and domestic pig.

Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area is located in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, Mianyang City. It is a national tourist attraction that officially opened to the public on a specific date, featuring natural landscapes and Qiang ethnic customs. According to the Beichuan County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism, to enhance the tourist experience, Beichuan Jiuhuang Mountain Ecological Tourism Company has developed the "Hand-to-Hand Hunting" project, combining local Qiang people's hunting and pig slaughtering customs during the New Year.

On the date mentioned, a reporter observed at the scenic spot that the "Hunting Ground" is located in the back mountain area of the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area. The exhibition board at the entrance introduces that the "Hunting Ground" covers an area of over a hundred mu and allows the pursuit and capture of various wild animals such as wild boars, rabbits, and pheasants. A safety notice is posted at the entrance window, stipulating that except for piglets under 20 kilograms and sows with piglets, any captured animals can be taken away for free.

It is understood that wild boars were included in the "List of Terrestrial Wildlife Protected by the State for Their Beneficial or Economically and Scientifically Important Values" (commonly known as the "Three Benefits" list) in a certain year. In a later year, wild boars causing severe damage in some areas were removed from the "Three Benefits" list. In another year, with approval from the Mianyang Forestry Bureau, the Beichuan Jiuhuang Mountain Ecological Tourism Company obtained a breeding and reproduction license, allowing them to breed and reproduce wild boars, wild rabbits, ring-necked pheasants, and other animals within the scenic area. That same year, the scenic area introduced 100 finished second-generation hybrid wild boars (crossbreeds of domestic pigs and wild boars), which were released into a closed area in the back mountain for free-range breeding and were available for tourists to chase and catch freely, marketed as "wild boars."

The reporter confirmed with local residents that the "wild boars" at Jiuhuang Mountain are currently being raised by the scenic area. In recent years, there have been no sightings or reports of wild wild boars on Jiuhuang Mountain. The scenic area's management also stated that the "wild rabbits" within the area are actually Belgian hares provided by a local rabbit farm, and the "mountain chickens" are artificially raised ring-necked pheasants.

"Catching Prey with Bare Hands" Poses Safety Risks; Handling and Taking It Away on One's Own Is Inappropriate

The scenic area's management stated, "The success rate of 'catching game barehanded' is not high. So far this year, tourists have only managed to catch hybrid wild boars." A search by reporters found that in recent years, many tourists have shared their experiences of "catching game" on social media, but often returned empty-handed. However, the safety risks of "catching game barehanded" cannot be overlooked: one netizen said, "Last time at Jiuhuang Mountain, my friend and I tried to catch rabbits, and we fell pretty hard"; another netizen commented, "Three of us chased for hours, our pants were torn, and we didn't catch a single one."

The reporter's investigation found that before entering the hunting grounds, the scenic area requires tourists to read the safety instructions, but the risks involved in the activities need to be assessed by the tourists themselves. The safety officers provided by the scenic area cannot guarantee absolute safety. The reporter, posing as a tourist, inquired at the scenic area's ticket office and learned that all ticket-buying tourists can participate in the "barehanded hunting" for free. If successful in capturing, tourists can entrust the scenic area to slaughter the animal at a processing fee of yuan per jin, or they can take it away themselves without needing to go through any additional procedures.

The reporter discovered through online searches that many tourists, after successfully "hunting," choose to carry the animals down the mountain for self-processing. The Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau of Beichuan County stated that the hybrid wild boars in the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area, after long-term breeding and iteration, are gradually converging towards the genetic traits of domestic pigs, but fundamentally, they still belong to wild boars. The scenic area has always allowed the hybrid wild boars to breed freely in a free-range manner, without submitting any quarantine applications, and it is inappropriate for tourists to take them away for self-handling.

Experts point out that while artificial breeding of non-state key protected wild animals does not require a breeding license, it does not mean that they can be raised arbitrarily. Instead, certain conditions must be met, such as relevant facilities, technology, personnel, and compliance with technical standards and epidemic prevention requirements. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has explicitly decided to comprehensively ban illegal wildlife trade, eliminate the practice of consuming wild animals, and effectively safeguard the life and health safety of the people. This decision clearly prohibits the consumption of artificially bred and raised terrestrial wild animals.

Experts point out that whether the "wild boars" in Jiuhuang Mountain can be slaughtered and consumed, and whether they can be taken away and processed by tourists themselves, requires further regulation by local authorities. Reporters found on short video platforms that some "agriculture protection" bloggers have filmed videos of hunting wild boars, which have gained significant popularity. Recently, a media outlet conducted a live broadcast of "hand-catching hunting" at the Jiuhuang Mountain scenic area, with numerous comments expressing a strong desire for the activity.

Ran Jianghong, president of the Sichuan Wildlife Conservation Association, believes that there is a need to be cautious about the misleading effects of such entertainment-oriented hunting projects on the public. Attracting tourists under the guise of "hunting wild animals" may also lead to public misconceptions: Does this mean that ordinary people can now catch wild boars? Dong Hui, a lawyer from Jincheng Tongda (Chengdu) Law Firm, pointed out that although wild boars have been removed from the "Three Benefits" list, according to relevant national laws and regulations, hunting wild boars for the purpose of consumption may still result in administrative penalties such as fines. In serious cases, it may constitute the crime of illegal hunting or the crime of illegal hunting, acquisition, transportation, and sale of terrestrial wildlife.

After relevant discussions, a responsible official from the Beichuan County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism stated that they will collaborate with the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, the Publicity Department, the Forestry Department, and other relevant agencies to further regulate the safety of the "Catching Game" project at the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area, as well as the standardization of quarantine and slaughter processes. Additionally, they will verify the authenticity of promotional content and the compliance of tourism projects across all levels of scenic areas within the county.

Relying solely on novelty to "break through the circle" is not the right path for the development of cultural tourism.

With the increasing demand for travel experiences among consumers, creating novel projects to attract attention and "break through" has become a "magic weapon" relied upon by some scenic areas. Industry insiders say that in recent years, an unprecedented consensus on protecting wildlife has been formed across society, and activities like "hunting" are contrary to values such as protecting wildlife and eliminating the practice of eating wild game.

Intervieweed experts believe that leveraging short video platforms to attract tourists is the first step, but what truly matters is providing high-quality cultural and tourism products and supporting services to visitors afterward, transforming traffic into long-term reputation and goodwill. Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy, also pointed out that the high-quality development of the tourism industry requires medium to long-term planning, public services, industrial investment, and project construction, rather than chasing trends with internet celebrities or fragmented "breaking out."

During the interview, the reporter learned that inadequate basic investment and unclear long-term planning are the current pain points faced by some scenic areas—relatively mediocre tourism resources, certain homogeneity with the tourism products of surrounding scenic areas, insufficient profitability, and financing difficulties forming a vicious cycle. Experts suggest that some regions with rich ethnic minority cultural resources can, in the context of the current boom in cultural experience tourism such as study tours and long-term stays, deeply explore local resources to develop more distinctive and culturally rich tourism projects.