A Chinese Influencer Is Under Police Investigation After Eating a Great White Shark

White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), also known as great white sharks or white pointers, are among the most potent and dangerous predatory sharks in the world.

They are the largest living species of mackerel sharks (Lamnidae).

Police are looking into a Chinese influencer after one video of her roasting and devouring a great white shark went viral.

The vlogger, whose online alias is Tizi, was captured on camera devouring the shark, which police in Nanchong, in central China, confirmed was a great white.

Chinese influencer eats a Great White shark

(Photo : Marcelo Cidrack/Unsplash)

In a mid-July video, Tizi tore off big chunks of the animal's barbecued meat and declared, It may look ruthless, but its meat is actually very tender, as per The Guardian.

She can be seen in the now-deleted video unwrapping a 2-meter-long fish and lying down beside it to demonstrate how much taller it is than her.

The shark's head has been cooked in a hot broth after being split in half, marinated, and barbecued.

Great White sharks have been classified as protected in China. A five- to ten-year prison sentence may be imposed for illegal possession.

"The fact that an internet celebrity could indeed eat a protected animal in full view of millions of people in the open shocks me!" one commenter wrote.

"These uneducated attention-seekers will do anything to get your attention!" one more said.

The fate of Tizi, who has nearly 8 million followers, is unknown.

She claimed to have obtained the shark legally, however, the local agriculture bureau stated on Monday that her claim was unsupported by the evidence and that police were looking into it.

In China, dried baby shark flesh is sold in a variety of online retailers for use as cat food.

The Korean slang term mukbang refers to popular binge-eating videos, and Chinese state media have long been at war with them, while live-streaming platforms had also long promised to remove accounts that encourage excessive eating and food waste.

Also Read: Great White Shark Populations on the Rise Along East Coast

Conservation of Great White Shark

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has designated the white shark as a vulnerable species since 1996, as per Britannica.

Comprehensive population surveys have been challenging due to the white shark's wide occurrence throughout the ocean; however, catch-rate data gathered by fishery officials around the world suggests that the species may be declining.

The white shark has only been evaluated in a few places, such as the Mediterranean Sea, where it occurs critically endangered.

Fining, a practice used by commercial fishing operations as well as others worldwide to remove a shark's lateral and dorsal fins as well as its lower tail fin affects sharks of all kinds.

White sharks are still being hunted for their fins despite the fact that many shark-finning practices are now illegal in the United States and numerous other industrialized nations.

In addition, a lot of white sharks are unintentionally caught in industrial fishing nets every year.

Although some of these sharks are killed in the nets, commercial anglers may purposefully kill survivors to harvest their fins and other parts.

As top predators, great white sharks occupy a crucial position and could contribute to the stability of marine mammal populations.

They are never in abundance because they are at the top of the chain. As a result, the elimination of a small number of people can have a significant impact on the population.

The populations among these sharks have been severely depleted in many areas due to overharvesting because they grow slowly and give birth to a few young.