Don't eat wild game, and don't buy, sell or keep protected animals as pets

Cost

Free. Buy pets only of lawfully sourced, captive-bred varieties.

What you get

Eating wildlife under key state protection, or buying it in order to eat it, brings confiscation and a fine of 2 to 20 times its value. Breeding wildlife under key state protection without a permit brings confiscation and a fine of 1 to 10 times its value. Illegally buying, transporting or selling rare and endangered wildlife under key state protection, or its products, brings up to 5 years and a fine. Within this offense, serious cases bring 5 to 10 years and especially serious cases 10 years or more. Hunting, buying, transporting or selling other land wildlife in order to eat it brings up to 3 years in serious cases. Official case: Wang Mou (王某) and 2 others (3 people in all), who were breeders, sold more than 40 captive-bred Fischer's lovebirds (费氏牡丹鹦鹉, under second-class state protection) for under 400 CNY in total, and in 2021 the procuratorate decided not to prosecute. Since 2022 the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate have made clear that where captive-breeding technology is mature, the scale is established and the animals are traded and transported as pets, it is generally not treated as a crime (China)

Notes

"Generally not treated as a crime" refers only to the kind that is captive-bred and kept as pets. It does not apply to animals caught in the wild or of unknown origin. Which animals count as under key state protection is determined by the official list. Checking the list before you buy is easier than explaining after something happens.

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. 全国人大常委会 (2022). 野生动物保护法（2022 年修订，第三十一、五十一、五十三条）. https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/fgbz/fl/202302/t20230220_1016885.shtml（生态环境部转载）
2. 全国人大 (2020). 刑法（根据刑法修正案（十一）修正，第三百四十一条）. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html
3. 全国人大常委会 (2020). 刑法修正案（十一）（第四十一条，即刑法第三百四十一条第三款）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/zdgz/202012/t20201227_503682.shtml
4. 最高人民法院、最高人民检察院 (2022). 关于办理破坏野生动物资源刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释（法释〔2022〕12 号，第十三条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/xwfbh/wsfbt/202204/t20220407_553506.shtml
5. 最高人民检察院 (2023). 鹦鹉小案 民生大案. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/zdgz/202302/t20230211_601023.shtml

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 9, tip 14. This section describes legal rules, mostly mainland China’s. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, talk to a lawyer. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer