Releasing cockroaches in the community, what is the responsibility for such outrageous behavior?

The dense cockroaches were released from the box, and the black insect shadows scattered around, and disappeared into the flower bed in an instant.

Recently, a video of "a woman in Langfang City, Hebei Province releasing cockroaches in the community" went viral on the Internet, causing heated discussions among netizens.

Through the video, it can be seen that a middle-aged woman in a yellow T-shirt was photographed by witnesses placing live cockroaches in the flower bed of the community. The woman had brought a total of 5 boxes, and in addition to the box in her hand, the other 4 boxes were empty.

The reporter's recent investigation found that similar acts of "folk release" occur from time to time. Previously, some community owners brought cockroaches to the garden downstairs to release them; Hundreds of snakes were released in the park, causing unease among local residents, and the relevant departments placed warning signs at the scene; Alien species such as Brazil turtles have been released in freshwater lakes, leading to the invasion of alien species; There are also "wonderful" releases, mineral water, fish and tofu have become "raw" objects......

In recent years, a number of release incidents have become farces, and individual parties involved in illegal releases have been fined and other punishments. Can animals be released at will on the mainland? What are the legal responsibilities that may be borne if there is a problem with the random release? How to regulate the release behavior? The reporter interviewed about it.

Release shall be subject to the law

The ecological balance must not be disturbed

According to the response of the staff of the street office of the community involved in Langfang, Hebei, after the release of cockroaches, the property company carried out a comprehensive sanitization work in the surrounding area. At present, the police have intervened in the investigation.

The farce of "releasing cockroaches" is not unique.

At the end of August this year, a video circulated on the Internet showing a man in Jilin releasing cockroaches in a downtown area. Witnesses said that the man released hundreds of cockroaches at one time, and he stepped forward to dissuade them but to no avail. In May 2023, an owner in a community in Tianhe District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, released several boxes of cockroaches, which worried many community residents, and the community property company then carried out a comprehensive sanitization of the environment and communicated with the owner of the release, who promised not to release cockroaches again.

Liu Hongyan, a researcher at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Ecological Law Research Office, said that in China, arbitrary release is not completely unregulated by the law. According to the Wildlife Protection Law, the Environmental Protection Law and other relevant laws and regulations, the release behavior should at least meet the following requirements: the species to be released must be non-invasive alien species, and cannot be wild animals that are prohibited from being released; The release of protected animals needs to be approved by the relevant departments; The release must not disrupt the local ecological balance, for example, the release of alien species into the local environment, as this may pose a threat to native species and cause ecological imbalance; Animals shall not be released in public places, residential areas or other places that are not suitable for release, and the release place shall be an environment suitable for the survival of organisms.

In Liu's view, the act of releasing cockroaches in public places can involve a number of legal issues:

The woman's act of releasing cockroaches in the community may be considered to disturb public order, especially if the act causes public panic or causes damage to the public environment, and the woman may be subject to administrative penalties of warning, fine, or detention.

According to the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and related regulations, the release of large numbers of cockroaches, especially in residential areas, may pose a threat to public health. Cockroaches are common pests that carry a variety of pathogens that can cause disease transmission. Therefore, the act may be considered a public health hazard.

If the number of cockroaches released is huge, and it has a serious impact on the life and health of residents in the community, or even causes a more serious public safety incident, it may be escalated to a criminal case, or prosecuted for crimes such as endangering public safety and obstructing social management order.

"On the whole, the woman's behavior may have violated the Public Security Administration Punishment Law and relevant public health regulations, and she may bear administrative penalties and even face criminal liability. The specific punishment needs to be determined based on the results of the investigation and the actual harmfulness of the act. Liu Hongyan said.

Free release for blessings

Leads to the invasion of alien species

On social platforms, the reporter saw many examples and sharing posts of releasing lives and praying for blessings. The investigation and interview found that many unauthorized releases were carried out in the name of "praying for blessings", but in the end they ended in a farce.

In December 2020, Xu, a woman in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, went to the local aquatic market to buy 25,000 catties of catfish from Liu in order to pray for relatives and friends, spending a total of 90,400 yuan, and then secretly released them in the local Changdang Lake, resulting in a large number of deaths, and the fishery department took 10 days to complete the salvage.

In 2022, the procuratorate filed a civil public interest lawsuit with the court, demanding that Xu and Liu compensate for the ecological losses. On February 3 last year, the lawsuit was tried and the verdict was pronounced in court, and the court held that the defendants Xu and Liu constituted joint infringement and should jointly and severally bear 35,000 yuan in compensation for ecological and environmental damage and 5,000 yuan in punitive damages, and the compensation will be used for the promotion of the rule of law in the ecological and environmental protection of Changdang Lake. This civil public interest litigation case of illegal release of alien species in China ended with both the buyer and the seller being punished.

Mr. Liu, from Hunan Province, has been a wildlife conservation volunteer for more than ten years, and he has encountered many "folk releases", because the released species do not adapt to the local ecological environment, and finally become "released".

Mr. Liu introduced: Once, in a river in Chengdu, Sichuan, someone released different species of fish and creatures such as grass carp, silver carp, eel, and loach in the same area. Loaches and eels are more suitable for survival in shallow waters, grass carp and crucian carp are more suitable for survival in deep waters. There are also some people who believe that the release of animals can eliminate disasters and solve problems, and release more dangerous animals such as snakes, scavengers, and alligator gars into the natural and even urban areas, causing great damage to the local ecology and making people feel panic.

The team of researcher Liu Xuan of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with more than 10 domestic and foreign units, systematically sorted out more than 9,700 animal release events in the past. From the more than 700 common names provided by the release records, the researchers identified 29 non-native vertebrate species that had been used in Chinese releases, including one amphibian species, one reptile species, four bird species, and 23 freshwater fish species. These findings suggest that the risk of biological invasion associated with release is generally high.

Experts interviewed said that due to the diversity and complexity of the released species and their origins, inappropriate release can raise multiple problems.

Liu Mingming, an associate professor at the College of Humanities and Development at China Agricultural University, said that first, the release of non-native wildlife species could pose a threat to local ecosystems, which in turn could upset the balance of local ecosystems, especially alien species with strong reproductive ability or ferocious characteristics. Second, releasing wildlife, poisonous, ferocious, or unquarantined wildlife may pose a risk of personal and property damage. These animals may attack humans or other animals in the wild, and the viruses and bacteria they carry may also spread through waters or other routes, causing potential harm to public health, property safety, and the ecological environment. Finally, wild animals that have not been trained in rewilding are often unable to adapt to the new environment and are prone to death after being released into the wild.

Develop guidelines for scientific release

Follow-up and monitoring the effect of release

In recent years, relevant state departments and some localities have paid attention to the harm of unauthorized release, and have issued targeted documents and measures.

In 2023, the No. 1 document of the central government proposes to crack down on the illegal introduction of alien species, implement the prevention and control of major harmful invasive species, and strengthen the standardized management of the trade and release of "exotic pets".

The Guangzhou Municipal Regulations on the Management of Wildlife Release, the first local regulation in China that specifically regulates the release of wild animals, came into force on November 1 last year, which clearly states that it is necessary to delineate areas for the release of wild animals, establish a management platform for wildlife release information, and establish a daily supervision mechanism for the release of wild animals. Within a month of the implementation of the new regulations, 13 applications for the release of aquatic wild animals were accepted.

August 15 this year is the second National Ecology Day, Shuangpai County in Hunan Province responded positively, and the forestry department worked closely with the forest public security to scientifically release snakes, frogs and other wild animals that had recently been treated and confiscated by law enforcement.

Liu Hongyan said that the legal release of animals should follow the necessary procedures prescribed by law, and that the release of wild animals usually needs to be submitted to the local wildlife protection department or ecological and environmental management department for approval or filing. This includes providing proof of origin and relevant documentation of the radioactive species. Before release, an ecological risk assessment of the species to be released is required to ensure that there will be no negative impact on the local ecological environment. The release should be carried out under the guidance of professionals to ensure that the release does not cause harm to the environment and the animals themselves.

The Qinglan Environmental Protection Volunteer Association in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, has conducted an investigation into the release incident, and some people have released a large number of yellow eels in a body of water. Due to the separation from the original living environment, the yellow eel died in a large area after being released, which also seriously affected the water quality.

The association pointed out that the current dilemma on release management lies in: release is not a regular, long-term behavior, and people can generally release animals in any land, water, and forest, so it is difficult to supervise.

In view of the problems of arbitrariness and difficulty in supervision, how should the behavior of private release be regulated?

Liu Mingming suggested that a guidance system for scientific release should be established. Fisheries, forestry and other relevant departments should jointly formulate scientific release guidelines, clarify the specific requirements such as species, quantity, time and location of release, and avoid blind release. Conduct an ecological security risk assessment of the species to be released to ensure that there is no damage to the local ecosystem. At the same time, the effect after release was tracked and monitored, and the release strategy was adjusted in time. Intensify supervision and law enforcement, establish a multi-departmental joint supervision mechanism, clarify the division of responsibilities of each department, increase law enforcement, investigate and deal with release behaviors in violation of laws and regulations in accordance with the law, and publicly expose typical cases to form an effective deterrent.

Source: Rule of Law Daily