The Beijing Municipal Regulation on Parks, which took effect Wednesday, will provide criterion for punishment for violators and allow violators to be treated as criminals in serious cases.

Wang Wei, deputy general manager of Badaling Wildlife World in Beijing, said without the regulation, caring for animals was just a concept advocated by some wildlife specialists and animal protection volunteers.

Along with an improved awareness, more and more ordinary Chinese have taken action to protect animals. In late December last year, when it snowed for five days consecutively in Beijing, urban dwellers took the initiative to feed birds in the open air. And rest areas for animals at the Beijing Zoo are all climate-controlled.

In February last year, Liu Haiyang, a student at Qinghua University, poured sulfuric acid onto black bears in Beijing Zoo, seriously harming them.

Liu was detained by the police but was soon released as there were no specific rules regarding the violation of animals, especially those under protection. The incident aroused fierce criticism from the general public.

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2003)