LAST YEAR, the police in Meixian county, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, caught 48 suspects in their campaign against wildlife poaching. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

The police found 1,029 animal carcasses held by the criminal gang of poachers, whose way of killing the animals was rather cruel. According to reports, they made DIY high-voltage devices using storage batteries and wires that they placed in the wild. Any animal coming into contact with the devices would be electrocuted. The poachers would then receive a signal notifying them of the death and they would collect the bodies of the animals. The meat of wild boars, rabbits and birds was packaged and frozen, while the paws of black bears－which can be sold for thousands of yuan on the black market－were cut off and musk was extracted from musk deer. Reports show they had "customers" in 12 cities in seven provinces.

It was on Taibai Mountain in the northern Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi province, that the gang committed their illegal deeds. By indiscriminately killing black bears and musk deer, which are protected species, and other wildlife, the poachers depleted the biodiversity of Qinling, which has long been known as a "genetic pool" for China.

Now the gang of poachers has been caught by the police and justice will be done. However, it will take a long time for the mountain's ecology to recover, as behind the 1,029 carcasses the poachers were caught with, there must be many more wild animals that they have killed and sold, as the investigators said there were four poaching teams on the mountains, and that their boss had been doing this for three decades.

It is better to prevent the poachers from hunting wild animals than to hunt them after they have already done their bloody deeds.

In other words, it is necessary to strengthen law enforcement so as to better protect the wild animals in Qinling, instead of seeking justice for them after they are killed.

For that purpose, the local residents must be made aware that such acts are illegal and be encouraged to report anyone poaching. An alarm system should also be installed on the mountain so that when poachers put such devices in the forest the police are notified. Only with joint measures will the wildlife be better protected.