Is It Illegal to Keep a Chinese Giant Salamander? Legal Regulations on Artificial Breeding of the Chinese Giant Salamander

The Chinese giant salamander is the largest and most precious amphibian alive in the world today. It gets its name because its call sounds like a baby's cry. It is found mostly in the southern provinces of our country and is a relatively primitive species among living amphibians, holding certain value in the study of animal evolution as well as in other scientific research and teaching. Now let us take a look together at whether keeping a Chinese giant salamander is really illegal!

Is it really illegal to keep a Chinese giant salamander?

Keeping a Chinese giant salamander privately is an illegal act. The Chinese giant salamander has high economic value, and overfishing for food has become increasingly serious. Combined with river pollution and damage to the ecological environment, the number of Chinese giant salamanders has dropped sharply, and in many places the resource has been exhausted or is even on the verge of extinction. To protect this resource, our country has listed the Chinese giant salamander as a Class II key protected wild animal and strictly prohibits hunting it. If it is needed for scientific research, exhibition, breeding and rearing, it may only be captured with the approval of the competent authorities.

Is it illegal to eat a Chinese giant salamander?

Eating artificially bred Chinese giant salamanders of the second filial generation or beyond is not illegal

According to Article 4 of the Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, the state adopts the policy of strengthening resource protection, actively domesticating and breeding, and rationally developing and utilizing wild animals. Article 17 provides that the state encourages the domestication and breeding of wild animals, but the relevant licenses must be held. According to the above relevant laws and regulations, artificially farmed Chinese giant salamanders can be eaten.

It must be emphasized that only Chinese giant salamanders of the second filial generation or beyond may be eaten, developed and utilized. That is to say, the offspring produced by wild Chinese giant salamanders and then raised artificially are called the first filial generation and cannot be eaten; the next generation is called the second filial generation, that is, the “grandchild” generation of Chinese giant salamanders, which can be eaten and developed. The precondition is that the operator must hold the Aquatic Wildlife Business License approved and issued by the fishery administration department, a copy of the Aquatic Wildlife Domestication Certificate, the Transport Certificate and other relevant documents, and may only sell Chinese giant salamanders after submitting an application to the fishery administration department at the place of business.