Lupien said the wildlife ranches where they hunt, which are dedicated to sustainable hunting, have proliferated in some African countries, notably Namibia and South Africa.

Wang from Jiananmd also said they set a cap on how many animals Chinese tourists can hunt per day.

Wang Zhenyao, director of the Public Welfare Institute at Beijing Normal University, said trophy hunting is acceptable if it abides by the law and heeds suggestions from local animal protection organizations.

Opponents, on the other hand, think that it is morally wrong to hunt animals.

Sun Quanhui, a science adviser with World Animal Protection in Beijing, said that although trophy hunting could to a certain extent give an incentive to increase the number of game animals, it is not morally acceptable to kill a living thing for pleasure and hobby.

No permits since 2006

Trophy hunting of protected animals in China has effectively been banned since 2006.

Na Chunfeng, media officer with the State Forestry Administration, said that China has not approved a single case of protected-animal trophy hunting in the past eight years.

Because demand from foreigners for trophy hunting in China had far outpaced the annual quota that existed before 2006, the administration tried to establish a fairer permit system and let licensed agents bid for the limited quota slots in August 2006. According to the Administrative License Law of China, such a government auction must be publicized a few weeks before taking place.

Facing strong opposition from public and government sectors, the administration then declared that it would postpone the hunting license auction only two days before the scheduled auction date of Aug 15, 2006. The State wildlife watchdog controls the right to issue hunting permissions of endangered animals which are listed on the protection list; while the provincial level administrations can still issue permits to hunt non-protected animals.