People with a passion for hunting will soon be able to track their prey closer to home, thanks to the improvement of a hunting ground in Miyun county.

Yunxiu Valley Hunting Ground, 160 kilometers away from downtown Beijing, is one of the only two places where people can legally hunt within the Beijing boundary. Managers hope to attract more participants after an upgrade and re-launch.

The hunting ground northeast of the city had been leased to a private operator but is now being run by Miyun county government, which signed a contract last week to help bring in funds to improve the hunting area in the northeastern part of the county.

The area, which first opened in 1994, will be developed to comprise an enclosed 400-hectare facility and an open 100-square-kilometer hunting area around it.

Guo Lixin, director of Miyun's tourism administration, said in an interview with Qianlong.com that backers will invest heavily and make the area important on a national scale.

"We expect to bring in 30 to 50 million yuan to help redevelop the hunting ground into the largest one in North China," Guo said.

The project is part of Miyun's larger plan to develop the county into a resort area, Guo said.

The area has been in a run-down condition for a decade.

The enclosed area where animals had been reared in the past now sits derelict and houses no animals. A wooden pavilion, where hunters once stood to shoot animals, fell down more than a year ago.

A man surnamed Li, who is deputy manager of the hunting ground, told METRO on Monday that he has not yet received any notice about the redevelopment project.

"If it can be rebuilt soon, our business may boom again," Li said.

He added that interest had declined since 2000. In recent years, there have been about 30,000 visits annually. During the 1990s - its peak years - there were about 100,000 visits a year. In 1998 alone, the net profit was up to 3 million yuan, according to Beijing News. But no more.

"Now business is better on the weekends than on work days as some tour groups come," Li said.

He explained that more than 10 kinds of animals - including deer and fox - were raised at the site and then hunted. However, he said they have been raising fewer animals since 2000 because of a shortage of capital.

"Last year, the enclosed fence broke down totally and we stopped raising animals. Most customers are hunting wild animals up on the hill where there are some hare and pheasants," Li said.

About 20 members of staff look after the facility.

There are about 30 guns available for people to hire at prices ranging from 100 to 400 yuan. A hunting guide is also a must for visitors. Guides cost 150 yuan per trip.

Wang Wei, manager of a Beijing-based hunting agency who has organized many overseas hunting trips, said there is lots of demand locally for such excursions.

"The hunting market in Beijing has been growing rapidly in recent years," Wang said. "My client base has increased by 50 percent each year.

"Many people would like to visit the hunting ground in Miyun if it takes steps to become a balanced and sustainable place."

Wang said improvements to the area should encourage more people to take up the sport.

But one professional hunter sounded less than convinced about the venture.

W. Scott Lupien, who is the president of a hunting club in the capital, said he is not a fan of the facility. "I do not like the ground because they have so few animals," he said.

The US citizen, who has been living in Beijing for more than six years, said he visited the area in the winter of 2007. He only saw one pheasant all day.

"If the ground can raise more animals, it will be better, but still it will not attract many professional hunters," Lupien said.

"It is too easy for experienced hunters to hunt cultured animals but for people who are new to the sport, the hunting ground will be a good place to practice.

"I will go to the hunting ground to train new members of my club in the future."

The rebuilding of the site has sparked a debate about the morality of hunting animals.

Hua Ning, China regional project manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, one of the biggest NGOs dedicated to animal welfare, said animals, especially wild ones, should not be confined simply for people to kill them.

"We worry that support for the hunting ground will end up conveying the idea to the public that it is OK to hunt wild animals," she said.

But there are those who hold a more positive view of hunting.

Zeng Yan, assistant director of the National Endangered Species Scientific Commission, said hunting might not necessarily be a bad thing.

"It may form a positive cycle if the number and type of prey is strictly regulated and the population of different species is controlled," she said.

Zeng offered Canada, South Africa and the US as positive examples of countries where it is legal to hunt wild animals, even endangered ones, within certain restrictions.

"Managed hunting will prevent the large-scale slaughter of animals; and the money made can be used to further protect local wildlife," she said.

"The key is a sustainable business model."

But, based on her organization's experiences in South Africa, where animals including lions and elephants are hunted, Hua disagrees.

She said the hunting has damaged the ecosystem there; and most of the money earned goes to the operators rather than local residents.

"It ends up as an activity designed to satisfy the desire for adventure of the rich," she said.

Wang Minzhong, head of the Wild Animal Protection Station at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, said it's illegal to hunt wild animals in Beijing, however rare or common.

"It will result in punishment when the quantity reaches a certain number," said Wang.

Wang said hunting reared animals might help protect some wildlife within the region.

"But the municipal government has no plans to support the industry or encourage it to develop," he said.