CHANGSHA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- In the eyes of most young Chinese, wild animals are no longer associated with delicacies, nutrition or wealth like their elders used to believe. Instead, they think the eating habit is unhealthy, barbaric and even despicable.
During the prolonged stay-at-home winter break due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China, Zhang Zilin, a 24-year-old woman in south China's Shenzhen, felt obliged to take action.
Zhang invested a lot of her spare time in writing and editing articles on her WeChat public account, sharing with her followers three times a week ideas about animal protection.
The intermediate host of the novel coronavirus has not been determined yet, but many experts said wild animals are the most probable source of the epidemic, which reminded people of the SARS outbreak in 2003.
"No one wished for an epidemic like this. But it did help to steer the public's attention to the subject," Zhang said.
Over 30 young Chinese with different professional backgrounds publish articles on her WeChat account. They try to offer varied perspectives and trigger diversified thinking among their readers.
"We can see very different opinions, even disputes from readers on the message board, which is very precious. Seeking common ground while reserving differences can make all of us rethink what is a better way to get along with nature," she said.
"Wild animals are friends of human beings and defenders of the balance of the ecosystem. Human beings should be in awe of wild animals, resist illegally killing wild animals, and live in peace with them instead of being superior to them," said Wu Shibao, a professor with South China Normal University.
Wu is a pangolin panelist of the International Union For Conservation of Nature, and a strong advocate for upgrading the protection of the pangolin to the highest level in China. According to some preliminary research, pangolins were suspected to have a connection with the coronavirus.
Wu's idea has been increasingly accepted and supported by young celebrities, experts and social workers.
Chinese musical actor Ayanga, who has over 3.1 million followers on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, reposted an initiative to "be a self-disciplined youth and not eat wild animals" on Feb. 24. The repost received 115,000 upvotes, 20,000 comments and 25,000 retweets from his followers. He reposted the initiative again on Feb. 27, drawing more popular singers and celebrities to join.
Liu Meisi, 30, used to work at Huping Mountain, the largest nature reserve in Hunan, from 2012 to 2018. As a graduate of wildlife and nature reserve management from Southwest Forestry University, she noticed the growing "young power" in her field.
"There were just two young people when I began to work there. But the number had jumped to over 20 when I left," she said. "The young staffers have become the main force in reserve patrolling, public education and biodiversity survey."
Liu now is engaged in nature education in southwest China's border province of Yunnan. Every week she takes a dozen students from different schools for birdwatching near Erhai Lake. The winter and summer nature camps she organized attracted several dozens of families from all over China.
"Young parents are not only more willing to enroll their children in such activities, they sometimes even show more interest when tracing gibbons or observing snub-nosed monkeys," she said.
Liu said China's nature education market is expanding rapidly in recent years, which demonstrates the increasing eco-consciousness of the society at large.
At Monday's bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislature decided to thoroughly ban illegal wildlife trade and eliminate the bad habits of eating wild animals.
Local governments in Fujian, Guangdong and Tianjin have also introduced regulations banning such behaviors. Shenzhen has gone even further to issue a "white list" of only a dozen edible animals, expanding the ban to other non-protected animals.
"It's a very big step for Shenzhen to exclude cats and dogs from the white list," said Qian Yefang, professor at the College of Law and Political Science of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University.
Qian has been paying close attention to animal protection legislation for many years. "The rule of law is the fundamental guarantee for the protection of wildlife and their habitats."
In the coming year, Zhang and her team have planned to introduce a series of courses themed "one-health." "We'd like to spread the idea of the shared health of human beings, animals and the environment. I hope more Chinese, especially young people can hear our voice."
