Vlogger Eats Great White Shark, Police Investigate

Chinese police have launched an investigation after a vlogger published a controversial video of her tasting a protected white shark, officials and local media said.

Images of a young woman, known as Tiji, grilling, boiling and tasting the meat of a large predator. They have sparked wild reactions on the Chinese Internet.

Police in Nanchang City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, confirmed on Sunday that it was indeed a great white shark, according to Chinese media Fengmian.

“The meat is so tender,” said Tzi in this video posted online in mid-July, delighting in large portions of grilled meat.

In these images, which have been widely republished by Chinese media and internet users, we see a young woman unwrapping a two-meter-long fish and lying next to it to emphasize its large size.

The shark is then half, marinated and barbecued, while the head is cooked in a spicy broth – classic preparation methods for fish in China.

The case is currently being “investigated” by “public security” police, the Nanchang Municipal Bureau of Agriculture said in a statement on Monday.

Great white sharks are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of ‘vulnerable’ species – just below ‘endangered’.

Global shark populations have declined in recent decades, in part due to overfishing.

In China, sharks are on the protected species list. Their possession is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

“It’s amazing that a web star can eat a protected animal in front of millions of people in broad daylight,” one user on the social network Weibo wrote in line with the majority of comments.

“These uneducated people are willing to do the worst just to get attention,” lamented another.

It was not immediately clear whether Tizi was being investigated personally or was facing a penalty.