Border patrol officers inspect a dead tiger found by a reservoir in Mishan, Heilongjiang Province, in 2011. The cause of the tiger's death is unknown. Photo: CFP

A pair of brothers surnamed Wang, who allegedly killed an adult female panda on December 4, 2014 in South China's Yunnan Province have been arrested, China Central Television reported on May 13.

The brothers allegedly used shotguns and a dog in their search for the culprit creature after one of their sheep was bitten to death on December 3.

This incident has raised questions about the compensation handed out by local governments to farmers who face financial losses when their crops are destroyed by protected animals, or when their livestock or they themselves are attacked.

With the Law of Wildlife Protection having been in place for nearly three decades, public awareness of wildlife protection has been growing. But some people still choose to kill animals in revenge or because of compensation issues.

"The difficulty of accessing compensation has intensified conflicts between human beings and protected wildlife, leading to people killing animals in revenge," read an opinion piece on news portal china.com.cn on Friday.

Despite a lack of statistics on attacks by protected animals nationwide, data released by some provinces and regions provide clues about the frequency of such incidents.

In Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region alone, over 210,000 attacks by protected wild animals have been recorded since July 2010 and local governments paid victims a total of 387 million yuan ($62 million) in compensation as of the end of 2013, the Tibet Business Daily reported in March.

Chang Jiwen, vice-director of the Research Institute of Resources and Environment Policies under the Development Research Center of the State Council, blamed the inadequate compensation paid to victims on the absence of detailed compensation guidelines.

Meanwhile, experts also suggest that reducing human intrusions into wild animals habitats may help avert animal attacks.

Lack of compensation guidelines

Chang told the Global Times that the Wildlife Protection Law's vague provisions for who is eligible for compensation in what circumstances and to what degree; who should pay compensation; and the fact it does not stipulate funding sources has led to the growth of the current discretionary compensation system operated by local governments.

"As most of the habitats are in backward regions, the amount of compensation provided by local governments is always much less than what farmers lost and sometimes they were not compensated at all," he said.

Guan Quanzhi, a 67-year-old who lives in Wenxian county, Gansu Province, was bit by a giant panda in March 2014, fracturing his right leg, local newspaper the Lanzhou Morning Post reported on January 16.

"Although my father has undergone eight operations, the muscles around the wound are atrophying. He is unable to walk or take care of himself," said his son He Haiyu.

Gansu's forestry department, the Wenxian forestry bureau and the Baishuijiang panda reserve administration finally awarded Guan 520,000 yuan in damages in March after they learned he planned to file a lawsuit against the Wenxian forestry bureau that originally agreed to pay him some 45,000 yuan based on the local compensation guidelines, said Guan's lawyer Wang Zhaohui.

The 45,000 yuan payment was 10 times the average per capita net income of rural residents last year in the province, Wang told the Global Times.

According to Gansu's guidelines for compensating those who have suffered from injuries or financial losses caused by nationally protected wild animals, only people who are killed can obtain compensation 20 times the average provincial per capita net income.

"The guidelines do not specify compensators. But due to the pressure of being sued, only the local forestry bureau would pay him any money based on the low compensation standards," Wang said.

"What is worse, some victims are not compensated if their local governments have not formulated such guidelines," said Yu Ruizhao, a vice-chairman of the Maoxian county committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Committee in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Yu, who proposed in January 2014 that the Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture government that administers Maoxian should issue a set of compensation guidelines, told the Global Times that crops in some villages were utterly destroyed by protected animals, including nationally protected wild boars and porcupines but farmers were not given adequate compensation.

Aba's wild animal and plant protection regulations, which include compensation conditions, were not enforced until December 25, 2014.

The Aba prefecture had 1,133-plus hectares of crops and 40 hectares of forests damaged by wildlife between 2011 and the first half of 2012, as well as over 10 rural residents and 760 cattle and sheep injured by animals, local news portal aba-news.com.cn reported in 2012.

Admitting that difficulties are faced by local governments that struggle to balance economic development and wildlife protection, Yu suggested central and local governments launch a special fund together.

He Yong, project director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare's China office, suggested introducing a commercial insurance program to compensate farmers, drawing on the experience of a pilot project in Pu'er, Southwest China's Yunnan Province that provides habitats for Asian elephants.

Insurance companies have awarded 737 million yuan to 5,274 households that racked up losses amounting to 739 million yuan, the Pu'er Daily reported in October 2014.

Chang disclosed that the Wildlife Protection Law was being amended, with compensators and compensation standards being taken into account.

Avoiding conflict

"Compensation is the last resort to make up villagers' losses. They should better protect themselves by withdrawing from natural habitats and enhancing their self-protection abilities," He told the Global Times.

He said some people's houses and farmlands were located in the habitats of wild animals, while many more live in close proximity to nature reserves, which increases the chance of contact with protected animals.

A limping black bear ran to the edge of a nature reserve in Rongjiang county, Southwest China's Guizhou Province and attacked a 57-year-old villager who was cutting grass, the Guiyang Evening News reported in 2012. The bear was likely injured by an illegal trap set by hunters, said Wang Ziming, an expert at the nature reserve.

Rural residents should raise their safety awareness, master self-defense techniques, and learn about animals' habits, such as learning what time of day they look for food, He added.