China opens new hunting park

Press, 11 January 1983, Page 22

China opens new hunting park

NZPA-Reuter Peking Foreign big game hunters will soon be able to kill bears, wild boar, and deer in China when a new hunting park opens in northern Manchuria, says the New China news agency. The 21,000 ha park, in the Taoshan forest in Heilongjiang province is also stocked with wild goats, lynx, otters, yellow weasels, squirrels, and snow hares which the official agency said could also be hunted. The park has 1100 bears, 15.000 wild boar. 14.000 red,

roe, and river deer, and is part of a much bigger game reserve. The fees have not been disclosed but are expected to be high since China views its tourism industry as a major source of foreign exchange it needs for industrial modernisation. A 220-bed hotel has been built near the reserve which has other facilities including a ski slope a skating rink, and a pier for fishing. Local Chinese hunters have hunted in Heilongjiang for centuries, and bear’s paw

is a traditional delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Dates for the hunting season were not given. The climate in Heilongjiang is similar to that of Siberia, which lies just across the Soviet border, with heavy snow cover during the long, freezing winters. A prominent American hunter, Robert M. Lee who has been persuading the Chinese to open up hunting facilities for several years said 18 months ago he expected a licence fee for one week’s hunting to cost about SNZSOOO.