Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0088/00883.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 32KB | 560 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00883}
$Pretitle{260}
$Title{China
Protecting Rare Animals. Part 2}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{New Star Publishing}
$Affiliation{Foreign Language Press, Beijing}
$Subject{qi
birds
cranes
china
dolphin
species
chinese
river
alligator
bird}
$Date{1989}
$Log{Farmer Panda*0088301.scf
}
Country:     China
Book:        What's New in China
Author:      New Star Publishing
Affiliation: Foreign Language Press, Beijing
Date:        1989

Protecting Rare Animals. Part 2

[See Farmer Panda: Courtesy Embassy of China, Washington DC]

Protecting Birds and Their Habitats

     In the early summer of 1981 an ornithologist and four assistants
excitedly descended on Yaojiagou, a remote village of only seven households in
the Qinling Mountains of northwest China's Shaanxi province. A report had
reached them that a crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) had been spotted nearby - a
species of bird so rare that it was almost extinct, with only three
individuals known to exist in Japan.

     Beautifully colored and graceful in flight, with a long beak, red
forehead and characteristic crest, these ibises had once been fairly numerous
in China. But none had been sighted since the late 1950s.

     The scientists soon confirmed the presence of seven crested ibises near
Yaojiagou and set up an observation station to coordinate protective measures,
and research on the "auspicious birds," as the local villagers called them.
They studied the birds day and night, filming and recording with discretion so
as not to alarm them. This research led them to conclude that crested ibises
are natural residents of the Qinling Mountains and not, as earlier theories
held, merely migrants who passed through the area regularly.

     In May the good news flashed out to the world that three new nestlings
had been hatched - bringing the known world species population up to 16. With
special protection, the ibises now had a chance to edge back from the brink of
extinction.

China's Bird Life

     The crested ibises, now happily restored to the country's list of
feathered friends, are one of 1,186 bird species found in China - 14.4 percent
of the world's total number. Some 50 of China's species are quite rare,
including the brown-eared and the golden pheasant, the yellow-bellied tragopan
and the red-crowned and the black-necked crane.

     The latter, a migratory bird unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one
of the fifteen rarest cranes in the world and the latest of the high-mountain
cranes to be discovered. State law lists it as a top-level protected animal,
along with the giant panda. A number of rare birds, including many of the
known pheasants and cranes and 33 of the 46 known babblers, are found only or
almost entirely in China.

     The study, protection and rational use of China's bird resources have
progressed considerably in the last 30 years. A general survey of fauna has
been completed and the geographical distribution of bird species worked out.
The paths of migratory birds have been mapped in a number of provinces and
many aerial surveys carried out. More than twenty new subspecies have been
identified.

     The scale of this vast undertaking can be suggested by one set of
figures: to determine the numbers and biological features of just a single
species, the black-necked crane, Chinese scientists and cameramen trekked
20,000 kilometers over three years and covered an area of 5,000 sq. km.

     Ecological biology research and studies of the effects of human economic
activities on bird habitats are an increasingly important aspect of
conservation work. The overfelling of trees in many places, particularly the
large old forest "monarchs," has caused sharp reductions in some local bird
populations by harming their feeding and breeding grounds.

Ecological Factors

     This has sometimes resulted in ecological imbalances leading to great
increases in insect and other pests. In Hebei province, for instance, rats
were once a problem only in two prefectures, but in 1980 serious infestations
occurred in twelve prefectures and municipalities. Millions of people were
mobilized and tens of millions of rats eliminated. But experts of the Chinese
Zoological Society pointed out that the major reason for the plague of rats
was the sharp decrease in numbers of their natural enemies, eagles and
weasels, and called for greater efforts to protect these useful predators.

     Since the 1960s the study of birds and their place in local ecologies has
gradually expanded across the country. It has yielded valuable knowledge for
the protection of endangered species as well as of common and useful birds
such as pheasant and waterfowl, and insect-eaters such as tits and warblers.

     After studying the feeding habits of birds, experts have recommended
biological measures against crop and forest pests, thus avoiding the use of
harmful chemical pesticides. In the past, for example, about 200 hectares of
valuable pine forests were destroyed every year by pine moths in a brigade in
Shandong province, despite heavy use of insecticides. Scientists suggested
that the brigade raise and train azure-winged magpies, which now eat enough
pine moths to bring them under control.

Ancient and Modern Knowledge

     A number of pieces of prehistoric pottery unearthed in China were
decorated with bird motifs, and show specific knowledge of birds as far back
as the Xia dynasty (21st-16th centuries B.C.). The earliest Chinese written
inscriptions, on oracle bones or tortoise shells from the Shang dynasty
(16th-11th centuries B.C.), mention many different bird species. In the
Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 24) a lexicon called Erya attempted a
fairly scientific definition: "Birds are forms with two legs and covered with
feathers." Research on birds and books about them increased during later
periods.

     The ancient Chinese were also conscious of the need to practice
conservation. Decrees banning the hunting of birds during their spring
breeding periods were issued by dynasty after dynasty.

     After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, bird-protection
measures became extensive and scientific. Nature preserves were established
and conservation laws passed. By the end of 1982, 14 specialized bird
preserves had been set up. In these places the creatures of the air can feed,
breed and raise their young in safety and scientists can study their
lifecycles and behavior patterns.

     Two important preserves are at Zhalong near Qiqihar in Heilongjiang
province in the far northeast, and at Yancheng in Jiangsu province, a central
coastal area. Some 150 species of migratory birds, mostly waterfowl, spend the
summer at the 210,000-hectare Zhalong preserve. Its six species of crane
include the common, great white, white-naped, demoiselle, hooded and the very
rare red-crowned species. Herons, egrets, swans, white storks, grey geese and
the red-crowned cranes are bred artificially at the preserve, and 91 of the
latter species have been provided to zoos across the country.

     The Yancheng preserve, much farther south, covers an area in which about
50 migrating species spend the winter - including the red-crowned crane.

Educational Campaigns

     Bird protection in China is still far from ideal, in large part because
of popular ignorance of the importance of ecology and conservation and
weaknesses in the legal system and public education. In the late 1950s, as
some readers may remember, China launched an ambitious campaign to eliminate
the "four pests" - rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows. The inclusion of
sparrows in the list turned out to have some unfortunate consequences. Though
they do eat some grain on the stalk, they also consume innumerable harmful
insects, so the temporary reduction in the sparrow population caused these to
increase.

     The haunting or trapping of birds is a popular traditional pastime in
the countryside and around cities. Even today some people, especially
youngsters, hunt beneficial birds or rare species in