Tag: ecosystem

Protect endangered species at all costs: Nanjing modifies bridge design to make way for finless porpoises

Posted on by animaldialogue in Conservation, News

Nanjing has specially revised the design of a bridge to give way to the finless porpoises in the Yangtze River. The Yangtze finless porpoise is listed as “critically endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Also known as the “river pig”, the Yangtze finless porpoises are small mammals that may live up to 20 years.

In the upper reaches of the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River, a bridge has been planned to connect two districts of the city across the river.

At first, the bridge was designed to be a three-tower suspension bridge. The program aimed to minimize the impact on the finless porpoise, so only one tower was set up in the river. However, this design was eventually denied.

“To minimize the impact on the finless porpoise, we have adjusted the plan again with the design unit,” said Wei Chen, an engineer at the Nanjing Public Construction Center.

According to the adjusted design, the three-tower suspension bridge was changed to have two towers which would be placed on two islands in the river respectively. In other words, there would be no bridge tower in the middle of the river, which may affect the activity and habitat of the finless porpoise.

At the same time, the bridge line was moved from the edge of the core area of ​​the Nanjing Yangtze Finless Porpoise Provincial Nature Reserve to the buffer zone outside.

Above: the three-tower design
Below: the modified two-tower design

After the revision, as the three towers become double towers, the span increases, and thus the corresponding investment amount and technical requirements would also increase.

The Nanjing Ministry of Ecosystem and Environment commented that scientific planning would yield the highest benefit. Indeed, it is difficult and costly for the modified bridge design plan to make way for the finless porpoise. Nevertheless, if any planning mistakes hinder the recovery of the finless porpoise population, a higher cost may be necessary to remedy the problems. At present, there are only more than a thousand finless porpoises in the Yangtze River, and their “critically endangered” status has not changed.

In the opinion of the Yangtze River Protection Volunteer and the president of the Yangzhou City Yangtze River Protection Association, Chen Yilin, giving finless porpoises precedence over the bridge is not only a sign of prioritizing ecological conservation over commercial development but also the only way for people to live in harmony with nature. “The Yangtze River has always been the common home of human and finless porpoise,” said Chen.

The Yangtze finless porpoise first became classified as an independent species in 2018.

Since 2014, Nanjing has demolished and relocated all the production piers of between the city’s second and third bridges across the Yangtze River. The city also released more than 300 million fish hatchlings to increase the food source of the finless porpoise. Meanwhile, fishing in the river section below the Nanjing Third Yangtze Bridge in the protected area was banned entirely.

At present, it is the breeding season of the finless porpoise. Since March, many citizens have observed pairs of finless porpoises in the waters of the Nanjing section of Yangtze River.

Photos and information come from 

http://www.sohu.com/

https://www.cenews.com.cn/

http://news.sciencenet.cn/

Translated by Andrea Jia

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue

The first “Local Animal Park” in China opened its doors on Earth Day

Posted on by animaldialogue in animal welfare, Conservation, News

On the 50th Earth Day, the Shanghai Zoo opened a “Local Animal Park”. The animal inhabitants of the park include endangered and protected species such as otters, Chinese water deers, leopard cats, South China tigers, and Oriental storks. At the same time, local representative species such as hog badger, European badger, raccoon dogs, and mallards also live in the park.

The gate of the Local Animal Park

An Area of More Than 320,000 Square Feet Produces a “Home” Environment

The Shanghai Zoo Local Animal Park began construction in August 2017. After the completion, the total area of the park is more than 320,000 square feet.

In the past, tourists always paid more attention to star animals such as pandas, lions, golden monkeys and so on. However, they don’t know much about the animals that live around the city. Shanghai is a city built on wetlands with abundant natural resources that support nearly 90% of the wildlife species in the Yangtze River Delta Area. “We define ‘local animals’ as wildlife that live in or near Shanghai, or animals that have historically been distributed but are now disappearing,” said a zoo official.

Inhabitant of the Local Animal Park: Chinese water deer
Inhabitant of the Local Animal Park: Reeves’s muntjac

The Local Animal Park of Shanghai Zoo is the first exhibition in China with the title of “local animals”. It features the natural environment of Shanghai wetland and hilly forests. The park strives to simulate nature so that the animals can express natural behaviors.

The entire bird area is composed of wetland landscapes such as lakes, shoals, streams, and small islands. Such an environment not only helps show the natural behavior of birds but also attracts many local wild birds to enrich the ecosystem. In the area for the Chinese water deer and Reeves’s muntjac, the slopes, lawns, and bushes are large enough to meet the deers’ needs to hide and run. The small animal exhibition areas for raccoon dogs, European badgers, and hog badgers present their preferred living environment with shrubs and ponds, supplemented by various tree holes and caves.

Inhabitant of the Local Animal Park: Red-crowned crane

“Artificial” Food Chain Enhances Animal Welfare

There are many aquatic plants, small fish, snails, and tadpoles in the wetland environment of the bird area. The zoo also built an “insect hotel” on the island with eco-friendly materials. The staff placed straw, dry branches, dead bark, and other materials in discarded wooden boxes to attract different insects. These insects and some aquatic plants also become food for the cranes. Meanwhile, the zookeeper will also occasionally put some mealworms and crickets on the island to let the cranes catch by themselves.

Inhabitant of the Local Animal Park: Masked palm civet

Attentive visitors will find tree branches of various shapes and sizes in the exhibition area. “They restore the living environment of animals in the wild and provide the animals with entertainment.” the staff revealed.

As people’s attention to the environment and the protection of ecosystems increases, a growing number of people recognize the importance of protecting the habitats of humans and animals. The Shanghai Zoo said that the zoo has been striving to change from a traditional zoo to a modern zoo for a long time. The missions of the zoo are to conduct wildlife science research, comprehensive environmental protection, popular science education, and advocation of ecological protection. The establishment of Local Animal Park is a major practice.

Inhabitant of the Local Animal Park: Eurasian otter

All information comes from  http://sh.eastday.com/

Translated by Andrea Jia

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue

Tibet’s biodiversity continues to recover: more than 200,000 Tibetan antelopes in the region

Posted on by animaldialogue in Conservation, News

On March 27th, the Chinese State Council Information Office published a white paper document titled “Democratic Reform in Tibet — Sixty Years On”, which reported that Tibet’s biodiversity has been recovering continuously. In the Tibet region, the forest coverage rate has reached 12.14%, the Tibetan antelope population has increased from 60,000 in the 1990s to 200,000 at present, and the Tibetan wild donkey population has grown from 50,000 to more than 80,000.

According to the white paper, since the establishment of the first Qomolangma Nature Reserve in 1988 (Qomolangma is Tibetan for “Mount Everest”), Tibet has established 47 various nature reserves. The total reserve area has reached 412,200 square kilometers, accounting for more than 34.35% of the total land area of China. Meanwhile, there are also 22 eco-protection areas, 36 counties receiving government transfer payments for their essential ecological roles, four national scenic areas, nine national forest parks, 22 national wetland parks, and three national geoparks.

The Chinese government continues to increase the eco-compensation for Tibet’s expenses for preserving the eco-environment and the consequent losses of development opportunities. Since 2001, the amount of compensation for various ecological benefits such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, and key ecological reserves has reached 31.6 billion yuan (approximately 4.7 billion USD).

Tibetan antelopes @Xinhuanet

The white paper claims that at present, the forest coverage rate in Tibet is 12.14%, with an area of 16.02 million hectares (including forest land, shrubbery land, and other forest lands) and a forest stock volume of 2.28 billion cubic meters. The comprehensive vegetation coverage of natural grassland is currently 45.9 percent, the area of natural grassland is 88.93 million ha, and the area of wetland is 6.53 million ha.

The Tibet autonomous region is home to 141 wild animal species protected at the national or regional level and 38 wild plant species protected at the national level. The region also supports plenty of endemic species found nowhere else in the world. There are 196 unique animal species, 855 unique plant species, and 22 unique bird species. Tibet’s ecosystem has been excellently preserved, the white paper said. Specifically, the number of black-necked cranes has grown from 3,000 to 8,000, and wild yaks from 7,000 to 10,000.

Currently, all the major rivers and lakes in Tibet remain in their natural state, and 95.7% of key waters have reached the national water standards. In terms of air quality, 97.5% of days are rated as “excellent” or “good”, and ratings of air quality in the Qomolangma region are being maintained at either “excellent” or “good”.

All information comes from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/

Translated by Andrea Jia

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue

The Love and Hate Story between China and Canadian Seal Hunts

Posted on by animaldialogue in animal welfare, Conservation

China’s environmental groups have adopted March 1 as the International Seal Day. Like many international animal advocate groups, Chinese animal protection organizations are opposed to the commercial seal hunt in Canada.

Canada’s Commercial Seal Hunt Controversy

Canadian law prohibits people from interfering with the natural ecology of marine mammals such as seals. At the same time, however, the Canadian government has also approved the annual commercial killing of hundreds of thousands of seals, explicitly prohibiting the hunting of small seals with white fur and less than 12 days old.

People who support the commercial seal hunt say that the seals that Canadians mainly hunt are not endangered species, and the overproduction of seals may impact the ecosystem: if seals eat a lot of cod, the Canadian fishermen will lose cod resources. They stress that though seal hunting scenes tend to be bloody, Canadian seal hunting follows the highest standards of slaughter and fully satisfies the protection of animal welfare. They denied the existence of “live stripping seals” and “killing seal pups” accused by animal protectionists.

Seals are marine mammals with a gestation period of nine months. Female seals give births to one pup at a time, and the animals wean by the age of four to six weeks.
Credit: Abertay University

The voice against the commercial seal hunt is louder on a global scale. Animal advocates claim that 95% of the hunted seals were less than three months old because the seals are poor at swimming and foraging and reluctant to leave the ice, so they are more likely to be killed. Oceanographers who oppose the commercial killing of seals say that the reduction of Atlantic cod is associated with increased human fishing and has nothing to do with seals.

With the efforts of animal protectionists, 35 countries have banned commercial seal trade. Since the 1970s, more than 30 countries and regions including the United States, Mexico, Croatia, and the European Union have banned the import of seal products and the consumption and trade of seal fur. Because of consumer resistance, North American seal products are also rare. However, in some Asian markets, seal products are still selling well.

Canadian environmental and animal activists protest the commercial seal hunt.
Credit: AFP

China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Market

In 2011, news that the Federal Fisheries Department of Canada announced a new trade agreement so that China would start to import Canadian seal meat in the hopes that the Chinese market will compensate for the EU’s ban on the importation of seal meat.

In addition to China’s large market, Canada’s commercial seal industry also strives to lobby Asian countries and regions such as Hong Kong and Taiwan to import seal products.

However, under the resolute opposition of animal protection organizations from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and around the world, China does not seem to agree to open the world’s largest food and consumer goods market. The Chinese customs also imposed strict restrictions on seal products, but a trade ban has not been officially implemented. Hong Kong and Taiwan have also restricted the market for seal products from the government to consumers.

All information comes from www.bbc.com

Translated by Andrea Jia

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue

The Initial Stage of the WWF Snow Leopard Survey Project is a Success

Posted on by animaldialogue in Conservation, News

From August 2018 to January 2019, the Tianshan Eastern Forest Administration of Xinjiang province collaborated with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Snow Leopard Protection Project to carry out a four-month winter snow leopard survey in the eastern Wusu administration area. The investigation has brought some great news.

The Eastern Wusu Branch is in the middle of the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, covering 150 kilometers from east to west and 10 kilometers from north to south. It is one of the largest government-owned forests in the Tianshan Mountains.

Since the WWF Snow Leopard Project started in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains in August 2018, a series of training programs and field practices in Wusu have been conducted, and a team of Wusu ecological management inspectors has been assembled. A total of 60 infrared camera traps were set up near traces of snow leopard activities (marking, footprints, scat), covering an area of 550 km2, almost 10 times the size of Manhattan.

The habitat of snow leopards at Wusu | Photo Credit: Bing He WWF China

During the winter field survey, the staff found multiple fresh snow leopard footprints, scrapings, and feces. A total of 417 photos and videos were successfully captured by the 25 retrieved infrared cameras, yielding a capture rate of over 80%. It has been fully confirmed that the Wusu forest area is an extremely important snow leopard habitat in the Tianshan Mountains.

The staff has also witnessed the activities of other animals in the wild, which played an important role in establishing the local Biodiversity Database. The ecosystem in this region shows a typical change in vegetation with increasing altitude. The constantly changing vegetations form many transition zones, contributing to the high level of biodiversity in the region.

The footprints of snow leopard found in the wild
Photo Credit: Chong Huang WWF China

It is worth noting that infrared cameras have also captured snow leopards in low-altitude forest areas, yet most scientists believe that snow leopards only inhabit mountain loess (fine-grained clay or silt), meadows, and sparse woodlands. This discovery is of great importance since it shows that snow leopards have strong adaptability in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang.

All information comes from www.wwfchina.org

Translated by Dule

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue