Outrage after woman deliberately releases bedbugs into wild due to her Buddhist principles

Releasing animals into the wild may seem like a humane thing to do, but the practice is attracting controversy in China, reports Popular Science.

In April, a woman in the Yunnan province, who regularly reports on the animals she frees, shared news of setting loose bedbugs and around 127 pounds of snakes, according to China Daily.

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While she and other such liberators are acting on long-held Buddhist principles where sending captive animals back into the wild is considered to be a benevolent act, the consequences can be harmful.

One insect expert points out that during a previous release, the non-native and highly invasive golden apple snail brought significant damage to important crops.

Observers have also noted that some captive animals likely lack the survival skills needed to live in the wild.

Last month, when officials tried to recapture foxes that had been released around a Beijing suburb, they found that many of the members had starved to death.

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