The forestry bureau of Guangdong province on Wednesday announced a five-year ban on the hunting of all wild birds, effective from next year.

The ban aims to prevent wild birds from being served as exotic restaurant dishes. In some parts of China, the manufacture of so-called clap nets for hunting birds is a thriving, though illicit, industry. In December of last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature uplisted the yellow-breasted bunting — one of the wild birds that’s most often consumed as food in southern China — to “critically endangered”; prior to 2004, the species had been classified as being of “least concern.”

Beginning in January, the southern province will ban all bird-hunting tools and prohibit restaurants from promoting the consumption of wild animals. Other Chinese provinces, including Henan and Hubei, have implemented similar bans in the past. (Image: VCG)