A whale shark was killed and hanged in a harbour in southwest China on Saturday, just hours after having been spotted near an offshore oilfield.
The killing of the endangered animal was sharply criticized online after the Beihai Municipal People’s Government Information Office in China posted photos of it on social media. In the first image, the shark is swimming innocently near the surface of the water; in the second – taken only hours later – the beast hangs slaughtered from a crane.
Whale sharks are listed as a vulnerable species and are protected under Chinese and international law by a number of treaties, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the Convention for Migratory Species.
Yet a 2014 investigation by WildLifeRisk, a Chinese non-governmental organization, revealed that a single slaughterhouse in Wenzhou, in China’s southeastern Zhejiang Province, was killing roughly 600 whale sharks annually.
Although hunting the species is illegal, it remains an extremely lucrative practice: a single carcass can fetch an estimated $30,000, according to
Though whale sharks are a protected species, these situations are not uncommon
In August of last year, footage of a live whale shark being cut into pieces by men in Guangdong, China, prompted a petition to circulate online. The petition called on Chen Jining, China’s Minister of Environmental Protection, to “prosecute those involved in the torturous live butchering” of the animal.
“Though whale sharks are a protected species, these situations are not uncommon,” the petition stated. “Chinese fishermen kill an average of 600 whale sharks per year, most of them facing no legal action. It is imperative that China steps up to stop letting animal abuse and the illegal slaughter of animals go unpunished.”
The worldwide population of whale sharks is estimated to be in the thousands.
Growing up to 18-metres long, it is the largest fish species in the world. But unlike many of its shark relatives, the whale shark is docile and poses little threat to humans. It mostly feeds on plankton and small fish.