30 January 2023 , 22:13
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A food blogger has been fined $18,500 (£14,900) after posting a video of her cooking and eating a great white shark.
The influencer, who goes by the name Tizi, posted footage to Chinese social media site Douyin showing her buying the roughly six-foot shark and lying down next to it.
She then prepared some of it over an open fire, before sautéing the rest in a wok and finally munching on a piece, tearing off strips with her teeth.
"Don't be fooled by its scary appearance, its meat is very tender," Tizi said in the video.
However, the large predatory fish is protected in China.
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And after tissue samples were tested and proven to be that of a great white, the blogger was found to have violated the country's Wild Animal Protection Law.
Tizi laid next to the shark carcass (Weibo)
She cooked the baby sharkA statement released on Saturday by officials in Nanchong, a city in Sichuan province, said the offender - identified by the name Jin - was fined 125,000 yuan.
The fisherman and merchant who sold the shark have both been arrested, it added.
The video went viral last year, sparking outrage.
Jin is known for posting mukbang videos, in which influencers take part in extreme eating challenges.
She prepared and cooked the shark in the clip (Weibo)
Tizi tore away the shark meat with her teeth (Weibo)She previously streamed herself eating crocodiles and ostriches.
She had 7.8 million followers on the site, which is the Chinese version of TikTok.
Jin paid 7,700 yuan for the shark on Alibaba's Taobao shopping platform, reports Bloomberg.
She also reportedly posted the video on Kuaishou, another video-sharing platform.
Great white sharks are considered endangered under Chinese law (Getty Images/Image Source)According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), great white sharks are considered a vulnerable species, with a "high risk" of extinction in the wild.
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Illegal possession and unlawful trade of wildlife products in China can lead to a prison term.
Jin began being investigated in August last year and claimed the shark had been bought legally.
"These people are talking nonsense," she told the South China Morning Post.