China Animals

Man Detained for Catching 87 Toads

For the first time in China, a man has been charged and sentenced to prison for catching toads. Although toads are popular as foodstuff, catching them is illegal.

Published

12 years ago

December 5, 2014

Fan Bai

Trending on Sina Weibo is the story of a man named Mr. Wang, who was sentenced to three months in prison recently for illegally catching 87 toads. This is the first time someone is charged for this kind of crime in China.

Chinese are, to some extent, famous for “eating anything”. It is quite common for people to hunt, sell and eat certain animals such as pigeons, frogs or snakes, without realizing they might be…

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Fan Bai

About the author: Fan Bai is a freelance translator and writer. Born and raised in China, she is now based in the UK.

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China Animals

China Faces Unprecedented Donkey Shortage Crisis

“We have plenty of cattle and horses in China now — just not enough donkeys” (“目前我国牛马都不缺，就缺驴”).

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2025

Manya Koetse

China is facing a serious donkey shortage. China’s donkey population is far below market demand, and the prices of donkey-related products continue to rise.

Recently, this issue went trending on Weibo under hashtags such as “China Currently Faces a Donkey Crisis” (#我国正面临缺驴危机#).

The Donkey Branch of China’s Livestock Association (中国畜牧业协会驴业分会) addressed this issue in Chinese media earlier last week, telling China News Weekly(中国新闻周刊): “We have plenty of cattle and horses in…

Chapter Dive

Behind the Mysterious Death of Chinese Internet Celebrity Cat Wukong

“Dont believe the media,” Zhao Shuo said: “And also don’t believe me.”

Published

1 year ago

May 11, 2025

Manya Koetse

How did the death of a young stray cat lead to a online wave of grief and outrage over the past few days? It started with fans mourning a beloved Chinese internet celebrity cat, then turned into backlash against fake news, anger over animal cruelty groups, and suspicions that local officials were more concerned with controlling the narrative than finding the truth.

Although things turned dark quickly, it began beautifully light.

The journey of…