[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]A Chinese food blogger who cooked and consumed a great white shark in an online video has been fined $18,500. The blogger, who goes by Tizi, was recognised by authorities as Jin. Jin claimed to have paid $1,141 for the shark on the Alibaba-owned buying website Taobao.
According to a statement from the authorities, Jin purchased the shark in April 2022 and uploaded the footage to the social media sites Kuaishou and Douyin (the Chinese equivalent of TikTok). Jin is shown in the films devouring the meat of the 2-meter-long great white shark and boiling it in a hot stew. Before biting into the shark’s carcass in the video, Jin remarks, “It may look vicious, but its meat is genuinely quite tender.”
The blogger is known for posting extreme food videos, showing her eating animals like crocodiles and ostriches, and gained 7.8 million followers on Douyin for posting mukbang videos, in which influencers film themselves participating in extreme eating challenges.
When authorities first began investigating Jin in August last year, she claimed that she had bought the great white shark legally, and told the South China Morning Post, “These people are talking nonsense.” She had claimed in the video that the shark was “bred in captivity” and was “edible,” but an editorial by The Paper, a state-run news site, said there were inconsistencies with Jin’s claims.
“It cannot be excluded that there is a black market,” The Paper said according to UK-based The Times. “After all, to ship a big shark from the coastal region to Nanchong [an inland city more than 1,100 miles away], it requires coordination.”
Investigators identified the shark in her video as a great white by DNA testing the leftover tissues and the Nanchong City Market Supervision Bureau said in its report that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural affairs valued the shark at 25,000 yuan ($3,704).
Jin was fined 125,000 yuan, or about $18,500. Local media reports say authorities had already identified and arrested the the individuals who sold Jin the shark last year.
Great white sharks are a protected species in China under the Wild Animal Protection Law, and anyone caught transporting, purchasing, or selling one is subject to severe fines and/or up to ten years in prison.
The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) has revealed that years of people hunting them for their fins and teeth have substantially lowered the population, placing them at a great risk of going extinct.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
