Food Blogger Fined $18,500 After Cooking And Eating A Great White Shark

Having broadcast a video of herself grilling and eating a White Shark, a controversial Chinese food blogger who is notorious for eating wild animals such as crocodiles and golden giant salamanders has run into legal issues. Previously Nanchong police had opened an inquiry and claimed that the object was actually a great white shark, a species that is protected in China.

After an investigation, a Chinese food blogger Jin has been fined a hefty amount.

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According to officials in the southern Chinese province of Sichuan, Jin, who is well-known for her mukbang videos and goes by the name Tizi, violated China's rules on wildlife protection in April 2022 when she bought and ate the animal.

According to Bloomberg, Jin purchased the shark on Alibaba's Taobao online marketplace for 7,700 yuan ($1,141). Then she posted videos on Kuaishou and Doutin, another video-sharing website.

Credit: Weibo

The films show her scooping up the shark, slicing it, frying it, and then eating it. The shark was around 6.6 feet long.

It appears the shark returned from the afterlife to take a bite out of their bank account after being cooked and consumed by the blogger who goes by the name Jin.

After the video was posted, authorities ultimately fined the blogger the equivalent of $18,500 USD.

When Jin's shark mukbang became popular in China, she received criticism over her strange food preferences.

Influencers frequently record themselves eating a lot of food for mukbang videos. Typically, the food in question is a typical takeout order or a sweet treat—not a great white shark.

The two-meter-long shark was purchased from a seafood store in Nanchong by Jin, who is seen in the deleted video unwrapping it.

In the horrific clip, Jin said: “It may look vicious, but its meat is truly super tender.”

After cutting the shark in two, she cooks its head in a broth and grills its tail.

She dined with nearby villagers, all of whom complimented the food, and the blogger boasts: “This is so yummy!”

Jin claimed that the animal was an edible hook tooth shark that had been "bred in captivity."

The same influencer has broadcast videos of herself eating other wild animals, including crocodiles and ostriches, and as a result, she has built up quite an online following. 7.8 million of her followers come from Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

In August 2022, an investigation was started despite Jin's claims that she had legitimately purchased the shark.

"These people are talking nonsense,” she said, per the South China Morning Post.

According to Bloomberg, two other individuals involved in the shark's catch and sale have also been detained.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, great white sharks are an endangered species with a "high risk" of going extinct in the wild (WWF).