An influencer has been forced to apologize after receiving backlash for cooking and eating a great white shark, claiming that she didn't know she was eating a protected species.
A food video blogger from China, known as Tizi has amassed over seven million followers on Kuaishou, a Chinese video social media outlet, as reported by VICE
During her videos, Tizi will prepare and eat exotic foods that others wouldn't even dream of eating and it appears that there's quite a large market for it online.
Unfortunately for the influencer, she bit off more than she could chew as she found herself in hot water after buying and eating a great white shark, which happened to be a species protected under China’s wildlife laws.
The event which occurred early last year saw the influencer fined $18,500, and she has now issued an apology while claiming her innocence.
During a clip uploaded to the popular video site, Tizi claimed that an online seafood seller had "tricked" her after claiming that the species wasn't protected and that they sold many of them each day.
"Some species of sharks could be eaten legally and that was what I assumed when I filmed the video," Tizi said in her recent apology, as quoted by VICE. "I was truly fooled."
According to the official WeChat account of the Sichuan Nanchong Market Supervision Administration, as cited by CNN, two fishermen accused of selling sharks surnamed Shen and Yan, were arrested.
Viewers of the video expressed anger at Tizi's actions, with CNN quoting comments from Weibo, China's version of Twitter, that read: "This is only an administrative penalty. How can we talk about animal protection?", referencing the fine the influencer received.
During the original video, Tizi showed off the shark which looked to be of equal size to a human after purchasing it for 7,700 yuan ($1,120).
She chopped it into two pieces and cooked them in different ways, one being boiled in chili and beer and the other half was marinated and grilled over a fire. The influencer then ate it, enthused about how delicious the shark was.
A method of species identification known as DNA barcoding was administered on the remains of the shark following the backlash, which confirmed it to be that of an endangered species.
Tizi took a hiatus after the incident, during which she claims she has done extensive research into marine life so nothing like this happens again.
"I would like to make up for my shortcomings because as someone who shoots videos, I should be spreading correct information," Tizi said. "I reflected on my own mistakes and will keep learning new knowledge about marine life."
We're sure Tizi will think twice about what she eats in the future!
