It's good to see China and many other nations starting to jump on to the bandwagon of protecting endangered species, I know it has to be hard for the government of China and the Chinese people because this has been an important part of many people's heritage.
However I don't want to see nations going to far and just banning the consumption of wildlife just to look good for the rest of the world. Just like here in the United States there are animals that are not considered endangered that can still be hunted and consumed legally as long as the proper license's and permits are obtained, humans have been a part of the food chain for thousands of years and yes at times we have gone overboard especially in the past where the animal wasn't hunted for food but for trophy and profit.
An example of this is in the Bison in the United States, back in the late 1700's and most of the early to mid 1800's millions of wild bison (buffalo) where killed just for their pelts and the meat left to rot in the hot sun of the American Mid-West to the point the species was very close to becoming extinct. However it is legal to hunt most species of deer or antelope which has been traditional for Native Americans and early settlers. If we where not allowed to hunt them the population would explode to the point they would be considered pests.
My last comment on this new law however I think it may still be to vague, in the story it states it would be illegal if the person eating the endangered animal "knew" that the animal is endangered. In the United States ignorance is not an excuse and I think it should be the same, the reason being is just like any product if there is demand there will be supply so you have to get hard if not harder on the demand.
Penalty enhanced for killing, eating endangered species|Society|chinadaily.com.cn
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