NANCHANG, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Equipped with a consulting room, an intensive care unit and a rehabilitation center, Wucheng wildlife rescue center in China's largest freshwater lake Poyang Lake has become a nursing home for sick and injured wintering birds.

"We have treated 76 birds over the past two years. People would send sick and injured birds to us whenever they find one," said Shu Guolei, director of the rescue center in Yongxiu County, east China's Jiangxi Province.

The rescue center is part of the Wucheng station, under the administration of the Poyang Lake Wetland Nature Reserve.

With a surface area of over 3,200 square km, Poyang Lake, in east China's Jiangxi Province, hosts up to 700,000 wintering birds every year. Poyang Lake is an important wetland to the global ecosystem and the largest habitat for wintering migratory birds in Asia with hundreds of thousands of migratory birds spending winter at the lake every year.

Shu said tailored meals are provided for the sick birds according to their species and eating habits. "For example, a corn and rice combo is given to ducks, geese and swans, and a fish and shrimp combo is for the oriental storks."

After a full recovery, the birds will be released into nature, Shu added.

Nearly 98 percent of the world's white cranes, over 80 percent of the oriental storks and more than 70 percent of the white-naped cranes spend their winter months at the lake before flying to warmer regions.

To explore a more effective mechanism to protect the flocks of birds, Jiangxi Province coordinates the work of the nature reserve, local public security bureaus and health departments to offer medical assistance.

More and more local residents are joining in the rescue efforts as their awareness of environmental protection grows.

Li Chunru, 75, has cared for injured birds for nearly four decades.

Previously a physician at a hospital in Jiangxi's Duchang County, Li founded a clinic center for birds in 2013 that is capable of taking care of 200 birds at a time with consulting rooms, an intensive care unit, inpatient wards, recovery rooms and outdoor sheds.

Meanwhile, bird rescue centers across China work together to ensure safe trips for migratory birds after their treatment and recovery.

On Jan. 21, 2021, migratory bird protection institutions from Jiangxi and Tianjin released nine recovered birds in Duchang, including oriental storks, grey cranes, and swan geese, seven of which had been brought from Tianjin for treatment.

The birds were released in Poyang Lake so they could easily rejoin their flock, said Li Zhenzhuo, director of a wildlife conservation center in Tianjin.

Apart from improving the habitat and beefing up rescue efforts, local governments in the province also ramp up forage supplies for the birds.

In a paddy field that covers over 60 hectares in Yugan County, nearly 3,000 white cranes have gathered here to find food since last November, said Hu Wei, Party secretary of the county.

"Last summer, a major flood in the Yangtze River endangered the natural food supply for the birds, so we urgently secured dozens of hectares of unharvested rice for the flocks."

"The birds are becoming less timid these days," said Liu Xinxi, an official with the Poyang Lake Wetland Park. "They used to only forage in the deep lake, but now they can be seen in the fields and pools that are close to humankind."

"With people's increasing awareness of environmental protection, the ecological environment of Poyang Lake has been improving," said Dai Nianhua, a researcher with the institute of bioresources under the Jiangxi Academy of Sciences, adding that the implementation of a 10-year fishing ban in Poyang Lake has better protected aquatic organisms and created favorable conditions for birds to breed. Enditem

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