Chinese food blogger, Jin, fined $18,500 for cooking and eating a great white shark
Chinese food blogger was fined the equivalent of $18,500 after she shared a video of her illegally buying and eating a great white shark.
The blogger, identified by officials only as Jin, and known as Tizi in her videos, broke wildlife protection laws in China when she bought and consumed the shark in April 2022, officials in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan said.
Insider previously reported that the blogger in question is well-known for posting mukbang videos, where influencers film themselves taking part in extreme-eating challenges.
She has previously streamed herself eating crocodiles and ostriches, and had 7.8 million followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
Jin paid 7,700 yuan ($1,141) to buy the shark on Alibaba’s Taobao shopping platform. She then posted videos on Douyin and Kuaishou, another video-sharing platform.
The videos show her picking up a roughly 6.6-foot shark from a store before slicing, cooking, and eating it.
The videos went viral in China, but were met with backlash. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), great white sharks are considered a vulnerable species, with a “high risk” of extinction in the wild.
They are also legally protected in China. Illegal possession and the unlawful trade of wildlife products in China can lead to fines or a prison sentence.