Many rich people in China started to enjoy sport hunting in foreign countries in recent years and Chinese e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma sparked huge controversy two years ago as he and his friends hunted 11 stags in Britain. [Photo/ifeng.com]

Chinese e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma sparked huge controversy two years ago as he and his friends hunted 11 stags in Britain. They spent 36,000 pounds on renting a castle, and hiring a helicopter to use for the hunt.

As a director on the board of The Nature Conservancy, an American charitable environmental organization, Ma said the purpose of their trip to Britain was to learn how to better protect the environment.

"To tell the truth, the hunting was a terrible experience for me. It didn't bring me any pleasure at all. I felt bad when I was shooting at the animals," he said.

Killing or Protection?

Although hunting may become more of a fun sport, it remains controversial worldwide as it leads to the slaughtering of millions of animals and birds.

As a result, some animal rights activists believe sport hunting is nothing but killing.

However, others believe that sport hunting is good for the protection of wild animals. For example, at one hunting ground in Sichuan province, all the prey there is domesticated.

In this way, wild animals can be protected. That's why they insist that legal and regulated hunting is an efficient way of managing wildlife populations.

Hunting in China

According to China's law on the protection of wildlife, "The State shall protect wildlife and the environment for its survival, and shall prohibit the illegal hunting, catching or destruction of wildlife by any unit or individual".

That means legal hunting is possible in China with the approval of related governmental departments.

In 1984, Tao Shan International Hunting Ground was established in Yichun, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province. This is the first hunting ground of its kind approved by the State Council.

More than 10 hunting grounds have been established since then in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Qinaghai, Sichuan and other provinces.