If you are a foreigner, have about US$20,000 in spare change lying around and are a keen hunter, there are some prime spots in China to indulge yourself.

But it is not as easy as oiling your gun and joining the next 6D/5N tour package: several criteria have to be met.

Chinese hunting parks - which operate on the principle of protecting the majority of wildlife at the expense of a minority - are gradually attracting international hunters; and will slowly expand in number.

One of the biggest international hunting parks is the Dulan International Hunting Park in northwest China's Qinghai Province, which is located at an altitude of between 2,600 and 5,336 meters.

According to Liu Fen, an official at the park, about 40 foreign hunters, most from the United States, come to the park annually, bringing an income of 5-6 million yuan (US$604,000-725,000) each year.

Blue sheep, as well as argali, white-lip deer and red deer, are all under state key protection. But their large numbers in the park make it possible to let them be hunted.

The money earned is turned in to the state, the province and Dulan Prefecture for animal protection, Liu says.

About 800,000 yuan (US$96,000) is kept by the park for its operations and subsidies to local farmers to encourage them to take part in animal protection.

According to Gao Jingyu, head of the forestry bureau of northwest China's Qinghai Province, which is responsible for running the park, local residents are gradually giving up poaching and trying to protect wildlife.

International parks

There are two international hunting parks in the province - the Dulan International Hunting Park and the Maduo Huangheyuan International Hunting Park.

"They (local residents) have realized that they cannot get much from poaching, but can benefit if they protect the animals," Gao says.

According to Si Ping, deputy director of the wildlife management division under the State Forestry Bureau, there are currently about 20 international hunting parks in China, where foreigners are permitted to hunt.

The bureau is responsible for approving the establishment of hunting parks and the number and kinds of animals that can be hunted in each park every year.

Si says among the animals that are allowed to be hunted are State-level protected animals, such as blue sheep or argali.

According to the Law on the Protection of Wildlife, it is the State Forestry Bureau and provincial-level forestry authorities that give approval for the hunting of State-level protected animals.

Most of the parks are located at the country's vast western regions where the overwhelmingly-favored game are blue sheep and argali.

Some 100 foreign hunters come to China annually and the number of game they hunt each year is around 200.

Currently, international hunting parks in China are only open for foreigners and there are about 60 for domestic hunters, which are mainly located in northeast China and north China's Shanxi Province.

China does not issue the hunting certificates, Si says, adding that Chinese hunters are given simple training before they go to the hunting parks.

"As a whole, hunting is not as popular among Chinese as it is among foreigners," she says.

According to Huang Jianhua, an official from the department responsible for hunting under the China Wildlife Protection Association, a hunt usually takes about one week and costs a hunter around US$20,000, including the trophy fee.

Huang's association is one of the six agencies authorized by the State Forestry Bureau to organize hunts.

Hunters can take their trophies back home, but they must get the approval from the management office of endangered species' import and export under the State Forestry Bureau.

According to Zhang Yue with the office, the number of game taken abroad by foreign hunters in 2002 was about 150, including more than 70 blue sheep.

According to Si, the game hunted last year would have been 10 per cent less than the number approved by her bureau for the whole year because SARS prevented many foreign hunters from coming.

Protection of wildlife

"Hunting does not pose a threat to the survival of wild animals because the number of hunted animals is very small," Zhang says.

Si says her bureau keeps a close watch on how wildlife resources in hunting regions develop.

"If we find the number of a certain species in one region is declining, we stop approving the hunting of this species in the region," she says.

Meanwhile, it is required that a large proportion of money earned from hunting be used for wildlife protection in the hunting regions, Si says.

"We hope that hunting can be a way through which local wildlife is put under good protection."

According to Si, her bureau has a plan to expand the number of hunting parks and agencies that organize hunt trips - the number of hunting parks in China will reach 200 and hunting agencies will total 60 to 70 by 2010.

In addition to the 20 international hunting parks, there are currently about 80 hunting parks in the country.

The increase of hunting parks will depend on the status of wildlife resources in different regions, she says, adding that demand is also a factor.

"If there is not so much demand, the numbers will of course not increase to that level," she says.

Xie Yan, an expert with the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, warns that local governments be careful about the development of hunting parks.

Cautious expansion

"I would suggest that they (local governments) do not give the green light generously," she says.

"Currently you cannot find a place in China where the resources of wild animals are not over exploited."

In the past decades, people have done great damage to ecosystems across the country and despite the protection efforts made in recent years, the number of wild animals is still too small.

"Even if you go to the most remote and unpopulated regions of the country, you can hardly find large numbers of wild animals," she says.

Such a condition does not allow the reckless development of hunting parks, especially in the western regions where ecosystems are quite vulnerable, she adds.

In addition, there is a lack of an effective monitoring system through which the changes of the number of animals in hunting parks can be detected, she says.

Xie suggests that the development of hunting parks be curbed within next five to 10 years so that the number of wild animals rises to a reasonable level.

It takes a longer time for some large animals to recover from the damage done in the past, she says.