Tag: nature reserves

She went boldly where no one has gone before

Posted on by animaldialogue in Conservation, News, Stories

In the wildlife conservation community of Jiangxi Province, China, Huang Xiaofeng has a reputation of a “living dictionary”. As the director of the Institute of Wildlife Conservation of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Forestry, Huang has been dedicating herself to Jiangxi’s wildlife for 22 years. What’s more, she has also been applying her research results into agriculture to help local farmers overcome poverty.

“Jiangxi is a province with a huge forest coverage rate. It is rich in wildlife resources, but it falls behind the frontier research of wildlife conservation and nature reserves. I wanted to change this situation.” In 1997, Huang graduated from the Northeast Forestry University. Yearning the mountain range and the lush nature she revered since childhood, she gave up the opportunity to work for the National Department of Forestry and returned to her hometown, Jiangxi.

Working in the field of wildlife research, scientists often have to go deep into the mountains and befriend snakes, birds, and all other kinds of animals. Danger is always a part of the job. To obtain research data, Huang once traveled within the mountains for several months. To find animals, one must take the path that the animals have taken. Most of the time, she walks in the depths of the mountains where no trails can traverse.

Huang admitted that her line of work was not without challenges. However, once a new species or a rare species was discovered, the sense of accomplishment would instantly make one forget the pains. She never gave up. In 2005, Huang pioneered the province’s only scientific research institute specializing in wildlife conservation.

Chinese merganser @nationalgeographic

At the end of 2007, after learning that the Chinese merganser was spotted in Longhushan, she instantly jumped on the train, took the camera, the telescope, dry food, and the kettle and headed to the forest area. The Chinese merganser is very vigilant and difficult to observe at a close range. To record its activities in detail, Huang had to take cover on the riverbank in advance and watch the bird with a telescope for several hours at a time.

Huang also traveled all over the country to provide farmers with technical support. She participated in the development of various innovative animal and agroforestry production systems with applications of online platforms. The results of her research have been widely used in various regions, including Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei, helping numerous farmers in poverty gain economic growth.

All information comes from  http://jiangxi.jxnews.com.cn/

Translated by Dule

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue

Extremely rare albino panda found in Sichuan, China

Posted on by animaldialogue in Conservation, News

A super rare albino panda was spotted in the Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve. This panda’s white hair, white claws, and red eyes had us wondering, did it forget to wear its natural black vest and smoky eye makeup? Or did it have such an excellent night’s sleep that it lost the signature dark circles around the eyes?

A wild infrared trigger camera captured the albino panda passing through the lush forest at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level. The picture clearly shows the unique morphological characteristics of this giant panda.

Based on these external features on the photo, experts concluded that the panda is an albino individual. Judging from the size, this is a sub-adult or young panda, about 1 to 2 years old.

According to Li Sheng, member of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Bear Specialist Group and researcher at the Peking University School of Life Sciences, the phenomenon of “albinism” is found in various groups of vertebrate animals, but they are rare and usually due to genetic mutations. The bodies of albino individuals do not synthesize melanin, a dark pigment, so they appear white, yellowish white or pale yellow.

Missing pigments means that the animal is more likely to be found in the environment, and their body is more sensitive to direct sunlight. However, a single “albinism” mutation usually has no significant effect on the animal’s physical structure, activity, or reproduction.

The panda photographed by Wolong showed that there was an “albinism” gene in the giant panda population in Wolong. From the photo, experts confirmed that the individual is physically healthy with a steady gait, evidence that the mutation may not have affected the daily life of this panda.

The “albinism” mutation is a recessive gene that can be inherited. Each animal has two sets of genes from both parents. Only when the gene from both the parent and the mother are mutated, the individual will develop into an albino. Based on the current data, it is not yet possible to judge the gender of this individual.

When the albino panda and healthy wild individuals (the ordinary “black and white” pandas) that do not carry the mutated gene successfully produce offspring, the first generation of panda babies will still appear black and white, but they will carry an “albinism” gene.

A normal black and white panda might be carrying the recessive albinism gene.

When two individuals carrying the mutated gene reproduce, it is possible that both of the inherited genes may be mutated to produce an albino individual.

Whether the albino mutant gene will be further transmitted around the giant panda population of Wolong will also need to be observed through continuous field monitoring in the protected area.

To understand the composition and habitat utilization of the diverse species in the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan, the Administration launched the monitoring and research work in 2018. In the various ecosystems of the protected area, scientists selected seven sample plots of 20 square kilometers, respectively. An infrared trigger camera was set up to monitor the distribution and dynamic changes of wild animals in each area.

This photo of the albino giant panda comes from one of the monitoring areas.

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

Translated by Andrea Jia

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue

Spring is here for migratory birds in China: authorities introduce action plan to protect birds better

Posted on by animaldialogue in Conservation, News

Spring sees a large number of migratory birds gathering and flying north as well as a significant increase in crimes such as wild bird hunts and consumption. As the birds’ migration starts in China, it is a crucial time to combat wild-bird-related criminal activities. On March 14, China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration held a teleconference which reported the status quo of bird migration and developed a detailed action plan to enhance the protection of migratory birds and fight bird-related crimes such as poaching, smuggling, and illegal trade.

Chunliang Li, the deputy director of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, demanded that local authorities fight crimes systematically by regulating the source, distribution, and market of wild-bird-related illegal activity.

@Liu Bo

To reinforce the protection of the source of wild birds, local Forestry and Grassland Administration should intensify the patrol for main distribution areas of migratory birds and eliminate illegal hunting tools such as net and poison to prevent migratory-bird mortality from human interference.

Meanwhile, the management of birdwatching activity must be standardized. The public should be educated on healthy ways of birdwatching and bird photography. Any birdwatching activity in nature reserves without permission should be forbidden. In the core zone and buffer zone of nature reserves, no birdwatching or drone photography is allowed except for specific scientific research purposes. Chasing and catching birds to conduct “studio shots” are strictly banned in order not to disturb the normal activities of the birds.

Li encourages exploring applications of technology that improve the efficiency and frequency of patrol and surveillance, especially in areas with dense bird distribution and regions with poor conditions. At the same time, efforts should be made to eliminate blind spots. By doing so, they may provide evidence to help solve cases and punish criminal activities in a swift manner.

@Liu Bo

Li emphasized that every tier of the Administration should collaborate with related departments to strengthen the supervision on circulation and marketing in order to strike the illegal trade of migratory birds. Li also called a thorough cleansing of all artificial breeding sites of wild birds to prevent these spots from becoming processing plants, transfer stations or shelters of illegal wildlife trade.

Lastly, to totally cut off the interest chain of poaching, illegal trade, and smuggling, law enforcement effort must be improved in commercial businesses such as restaurants, bird-and-flower markets, raw material distribution centers, ports, and trade routes with a high rate of smuggling.

As e-commerce, express shipping, and social media have recently become new tools of illegal wildlife trade, Li also required subordinates to enhance surveillance of these platforms and to put relevant laws into practice.

Whooper swans on their migration route @Yi Nuo

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

Translated by Hengyu Du

Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue