China Environmental Law

At the suggestion of the wise Adam Minter, I’ve decoupled today’s orginal post.  While both portions relate to the same locale, they address seperate (but equally important) issues.  Here’s one part:

Had I not read this story about Shennongjia’s quest for “ecological compensation” (which is the subject of today’s other feature) I would have missed the link to a 2007 article about a “bigfoot” with Chinese characteristics: Shennongjia ‘wild men’ leave footprints.  The story begins with “local resident Wang and his friend Zhang from Xiangfan, Hubei Province”

driving along the Licha River, heading for Laojun Mountain. They were approaching a sharp curve in the mountain road when they spotted two giant, dark figures standing behind a tangled mass of shrubbery some 50 meters away from their car.

According to the witnesses, the two “wild men” were skinny and covered with black hair. The taller one was about 1.7 meters high and the other one was approximately 1.3 to 1.4 meters. Both were quite agile because they quickly fled into the dense forest as soon as they saw the car.

Investigators were called in and a team consisting of journalists, officials from the local government, and scientific investigators including two professionals from China Association for Scientific Expedition sprang into action.  They discovered footprints and other evidence of the creatures, and, to their credit I think, concluded that “the thrilling event was indeed a real life sighting of a group of upright human-shaped creatures.”

Not that unusual I suppose. I have encountered any number of “upright human-shaped creatures” in my time.  Question: are these creatures part of the protected resources or would they be deemed eligible for “ecological compensation?”

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I did a little more research and it appears that the Shennongjia “wildman” (野人) is already quite well-known in China and among cryptozoologists everywhere.  Check this story out “On The Trail Of China’s Bigfoot.“