Behind the snow bunny being "picked" by a star: it was once dried and sold to tourists, and protection faces difficulties
The guest of the variety show "Extreme Challenge Treasure Tour" was accused of picking jellyfish snow rabbits on the plateau, which continued to attract attention.
According to Gu Lei, a botanist at Capital Normal University, "Jellyfish Snow Rabbit" is a type of snow rabbit, which grows on a plateau at an altitude of 4500-5000 meters. It is a perennial once-flowering plant and is rare and endangered.
But in Tibetan areas, some people will sell snow rabbits as snow lotus.
Gu Lei said that snow lotus has obvious large bracts, while snow rabbits are more fluffy, and the appearance of the two is not similar.
However, some people dry the snow rabbits and sell them to tourists for 35 yuan each.
Tashi Nima, the head of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Network, also mentioned that snow rabbits and snow lotus are the most frequently destroyed local wild plants, because these plants are considered to have medicinal value or look good.
In July this year, the jellyfish snow rabbit was listed as a national second-level protected plant in the "List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (Draft for Comment)."
The staff of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration stated that the picking of newly added wild plants is not illegal before the draft for comments is officially released, and they will speed up the entry into force of the list.
At present, not only snow rabbits, but other endangered plants are also often picked and sold, facing a dilemma in protection.
Gu Lei believes that protecting biodiversity is not to protect a certain species, but to protect the integrity of the entire ecosystem, "also to protect ourselves."
Variety show accused of picking endangered plant snow rabbit
In the variety show "Extreme Challenge Treasure Tour" broadcast on September 20th, three guests went to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to pick "snow lotus".
The program group stated in the distributed Weibo: "The local residents gave the snow lotus a small reminder that there are white flowers in the high-altitude stone. @MDModern brother Liu Yuning walked around and looked around, finally in Shidui I saw a precious snow lotus."
Some voices pointed out that the plants picked in the show were jellyfish snow rabbits, which belonged to rare wild plants.
On the 21st, Dragon TV's program team and program guests issued an apology statement, mentioning that "the guests are props snow lotus" and "there is no actual picking of rare plants."
In this regard, Gu Lei, associate professor of botany at Capital Normal University, questioned.
Gu Lei said that he carefully watched the show video and confirmed that the guests were not picking props.
"They collected live plants, with soil on the roots, and details such as stems and leaves. No props master can make every prop in a different shape."
In addition, Gu Lei believes that what the show guests pick is not the so-called "snow lotus".
"In fact, it is a close relative of the same genus, the jellyfish snow rabbit. Of course, this cannot be artificially cultivated because it is very difficult to artificially cultivate plants on high mountains."
According to data, the snow rabbit is a plant belonging to the genus Campanulaceae, Asteraceae and Saussurea.
It grows on high mountain flowing rocky beaches, rock crevices on mountain slopes, and sandy land on top of mountains, with an altitude of 4500-5000 meters.
"The jellyfish snow rabbit is a kind of snow rabbit, the inflorescence is like a rabbit, and the bracts are like jellyfish."
Gu Lei said that the jellyfish snow rabbit is a once-perennial flowering plant that has accumulated nutrients for many years to bloom, and the whole plant died after the seeds matured. “Because the number is scarce, we are not even willing to collect specimens during scientific research.
On the 22nd, a reporter from the Beijing News called the Forestry Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region. A staff member said that whether the plants picked by the program guests are props are still being verified and investigated. If they belong to the national first-level or second-level protected wild plants, the relevant departments will Give corresponding penalties.
Snow rabbits are picked and dried and sold to tourists
In Tibetan areas, some people pick snow rabbits and sell them to tourists as snow lotus.
According to Gu Lei, the unflowered snow rabbit is very inconspicuous, and it is easy to be found and picked when it blooms. People sometimes refer to the subgenus Saussurea and the subgenus Snow rabbit as the snow lotus.
"The snow lotus has very obvious large bracts, just like petals. Snow rabbits are more fluffy."
Even if the snow rabbits and snow lotus are not similar in appearance, some people still dry the snow rabbits for profit and sell them to tourists for 35 yuan each.
Gu Lei said, "Some people think it grows in a very strange place, maybe it has a peculiar medicinal effect, they don't care if it is a real snow lotus."
Tashi Nima, the head of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Network, also mentioned that snow rabbit, snow lotus and meconopsis are the most frequently destroyed local wild plants, because these plants are considered to have medical value or look good.
Tashi Nyima said that the local eco-environmental protection agency’s measures to protect wild animals and plants are usually to compile books and picture albums showing knowledge of animals and plants to achieve the effect of publicity and popularization. The audience is mostly local people, environmental protection agencies and animal and plant lovers. .
In the next step, environmentalists will further search for relevant popular science materials to popularize the protection of wild plants. Tashi Nima said, "I hope that the protection of wild animals and plants will become a common understanding, not just because of an individual case."
Not yet included in the list of national key protected wild plants
Public information shows that the jellyfish snow rabbit is a national secondary protected plant listed in the "List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (Draft for Comment)" (hereinafter referred to as the "List (Draft for Comment)").
The staff of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration told the Beijing News that the "List (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)" has been publicly solicited for comments from the public. The follow-up needs to continue to cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other departments to hold expert review meetings to conduct further Assessment.
The "Regulations on the Protection of Wild Plants of the People's Republic of China" clearly stipulates that the collection of wild plants under national first-level protection is prohibited, and the collection of wild plants under national second-level protection must be signed by the wild plant administrative department of the county-level people’s government at the place of collection. The wild plant administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government or an agency authorized by it applies for a collection certificate.
The above-mentioned staff mentioned that before the "List (Draft for Comment)" was officially released, the act of picking new wild plants was not illegal.
The formulation of the national key protected wild plants list is listed as the key work of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration this year, and the follow-up will speed up the entry into force of the "List (Draft for Comment)".
Endangered plants face protection dilemma
Not only snow rabbits, but other endangered plants are also often picked and sold, facing a dilemma in conservation.
According to Gu Lei, taking orchid plants as an example, some people think that wild dendrobium has medicinal value and is used in soups, causing endangered wild dendrobium to be picked and sold.
In July 2020, 104 species of orchids, including Dendrobium, were also included in the List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (Draft for Comment).
"Humans have no empathy for plants," Gu Lei believes that protecting wild plants is more difficult than protecting wild animals, because animals will arouse empathy for people and people will not bear the heart to kill.
For plants, especially plants in remote areas, it is difficult to protect them.
"There are more than 80 species of subgenus Saussurea and subgenus Snow rabbits, half of which are endangered." Gu Lei said that the most effective protection method at present is to promote the update of the plant protection list and use laws to protect these endangered plants. The protection has little effect.
In addition, the public welfare team also plays a role in scientific communication and public education.
Gu Lei said that he hopes that the general public will not harm or buy wild animals and plants, and if they have money and spare capacity, they can do some ecological environment volunteer work.
At present, there are still many endangered plants that have not been included in the protection list.
"The protection of environmental protection diversity is also for ourselves." Gu Lei explained that protecting biodiversity is not about protecting a certain species, but about protecting the integrity of the entire ecosystem.
"We don't know the specific relationship between different species in the entire ecosystem for the time being, and we don't know whether this ecosystem will collapse if we lose some species."
Beijing News trainee reporter Wu Caiqian and intern Zhou Siya