Chinese restaurants are being urged to take names of exotic animals off their menus in a campaign launched on Monday in northeast China's Liaoning Province to mark the first World Wildlife Day.

The United Nations's World Wildlife Day is designed to highlight the value and contribution of wild animals and plants.

The Liaoning provincial forestry bureau launched a campaign asking all restaurants in the province to stop using names of exotic animals as marketing gimmicks and advertisements to lure customers.

Ma Zhigang, a provincial forestry official, said wild animals and plants have been under threat of not only urbanization and industrial development, but also poaching fanned by people's desire for exotic food. There is still a lack of public awareness on wildlife protection, Ma said.

Liaoning boasts 11.6 million hectares of forestry coverage. Its adjacent Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces have many wildlife species due to their forest resources.

Yu Changchun, a Jilin forestry official, said video cameras have captured images of rare species such as Siberian tigers and Siberian leopards in Changbai Mountains in Jilin. The population of musk, spotted and red deer has recovered through setting up a nature reserve.

Zoos and wild animal parks around the country also held World Wildlife Day-themed activities.

In Chime-Long Zoo in south China's Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, children were allowed to pose for photographs with four Koalas that the zoo imported from Australia.

Dong Guixin, manager of the zoo, said World Wildlife Day is a good opportunity to promote public awareness on wildlife protection.

Chengdu Zoo and Botanical Garden in the capital of Sichuan Province invited wild animal and plant experts to give lectures on wildlife, and help people distinguish products made of wildlife.