Chinese city launches whistle-blowing mobile app to eliminate wildlife crimes

Hangzhou city of east China's Zhejiang Province launched a mobile app Wednesday to solicit tip-offs on illegal activities relating to wild animals.

Residents can submit anonymous reports on the illegal hunting and trading of wild animals, and wildlife consumption on their phones with detailed locations, descriptions and photos or video clips, according to the Hangzhou municipal people's procuratorate, which developed the mobile app with Alipay, one of China's most popular online payment service providers headquartered in Hangzhou.

Meanwhile, citizens can still report wildlife crimes via hotlines.

The move responded to a decision adopted by the country's top legislature on Feb. 24 to thoroughly ban the illegal trading of wildlife and eliminating the consumption of wild animals to safeguard people's lives and health.