64
Oryx
and Fisheries. The figure fell to 10 in 1975, doubtless because of the alleged discovery of a cancer cure.
In the absence of any reliable information on the status of species in China itself, one of the best means of judging is by the origin of the imported animals. Traditionally most of the birds and mammals come from the coastal provinces, chiefly the two nearest, Kwangtung and Fukien; ducks and geese come also from the Yangtse estuary. Possibly significant changes in the trade include the appearance of the reticulated python Python reticulatus for the first time in the winter of 1971-2, said to come from Yunnan, but never scientifically recorded in China. In the same winter, there appeared a number of yellow-bellied tits Parus venustulus, also alleged to be from Yunnan, although this coincided with an irruption of the species into Hong Kong.
The observers paid particular attention to the trade in birds of prey, which are recognised as a group in danger worldwide. Posing as buyers, they enquired how many the dealers could supply in a week, and got a total figure in the region of 10,000 a year, including owls; official figures obtained by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries subsequent to this estimate were, for 1974, 2073 owls and 223 other birds of prey, and for 1975, 9486 owls and 7075 others. The increase probably reflects not an increase in the trade but greater accuracy in compiling records. Kestrels Falco tinnunculus made up about half the total. Other large numbers included several hundred black kites Milvus migrans, at least 1000 buzzards (chiefly Buteo buteo), 200-300 imperial eagles Aquila heliaca, and several hundred each of scops owls Otus scops, collared scops owls 0. bakkamoena, eagle owls Bubo bubo, grass owls Tyto longimembris and short-eared owls Asio flammeus. Individual consignments of 300 hobbies Falco subbuteo, 300 sparrowhawks Accipiter spp. and 300 saker falcons Falco cherrug have been reported, the last named destined for falconers in Japan. The conditions under which these birds are kept are so bad that a high proportion are diseased, and few are fit enough to be of any use to falconers (except, probably, the sakers); they are generally destined for the pot.
Appeals from conservationists and anti-cruelty organisations have in the past fallen on deaf ears. The Government has been prepared to pass laws which look good but are unenforceable and not intended to be enforced. It is hoped that the new legislation, and the international focus which has been directed on the Hong Kong Government, and in particular the Depart- ment of Agriculture and Fisheries's appalling record in this field, will cause a long-needed improvement. The fundamental tool for law enforcement is statistics, and we are at last beginning to get statistics which, while certainly not accurate, are at least sufficiently near the truth to be used as a base for enforcement activities. However, the sufferer in this trade is China, not Hong Kong, and the final solution can only come from China. This will not happen without a determined effort on the part of the Hong Kong and British Govern- ments, without whose pressure China is unlikely to act to restrain its merchant corporations.
Conservation organisations in Hong Kong are too weak to do more than make polite suggestions, which are as politely rejected or evaded, and so Hong Kong remains an exploiter of wildlife, irrespective of rarity. In the