Chinese participation contributes to wildlife protection: conservationist

A male lion in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.[Photo by Zheng Yang/Provided to China Daily]

BEIJING -- Increasing public awareness of wildlife protection among Chinese people and their participation will make a difference in the global cause of wildlife conservation, a famed Chinese conservationist told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Zhuo Qiang, also known and aliased as "Simba", said China, as a major developing country with an earnest sense of responsibility towards the shared destiny of humankind, is actively participating in the global pursuit of an ecological civilization, and this has brought hope and progress to the cause.

Over the weekend, a few hundred attendees from home and abroad joined Zhuo in the "Run for Wildlife", a charitable event held on the western outskirts of Beijing.

While running up and down a 5-km hilly path across the forest park, participants vowed to reject wildlife products and do what they can to protect endangered species and defend the world ecosystem.

"It is delightful to see more and more Chinese people become aware and join the cause to protect wildlife," Zhuo said, who flew back from Kenya to support the event organized by "Nature Guardian", a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting habitat conservation, public education and international exchange between China and Africa.

In 2011, Zhuo traveled to Mara-Serengeti savannah, where he has been staying with the indigenous Maasai people and working with local conservationists at Ol Kinyei Conservancy, a sanctuary for wildlife covering 260,000 hectares of wilderness.

In recent years, Zhuo and his team have welcomed many Chinese visitors including children who offered to volunteer for the project.

Coming back from Kenya, Chinese volunteers shared their experience and called for an immediate end to the consumption of wildlife products, such as ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales and big cat bones.