Hard battle against Chinese migratory bird hunting
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E-mail Xinhua, October 16, 2012
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Egrets are endangered as they are hunted by villagers believing in their special health benefits. [File photo] |
In bazaars in Guidong County in central China's Hunan Province, villagers use a unique way to set the price of the myriad wild birds on sale: measuring the length of their necks.
Birds with long necks, such as egrets and herons, sell for between 10 (1.6 U.S. dollars) and 70 yuan, while short-necked eagles and owls are priced at hundreds of yuan as the taste of their meat is preferred.
Guidong is at the epicenter of a battle to crack down on the hunting of migratory birds, with Hunan last week forming the nation's first volunteer team on migratory bird protection.
It is badly needed, as ornithologists warn of an additional threat on top of traditional hunting and consumption of wild birds in provincial backwaters. Rising demand in Chinese urban markets, they say, has lured an increasing number of bird purchasers and professional hunters into the area.
"Local residents are unaware of the animals' endangered status, not knowing that many of the cheaply priced bird of prey are actually under state protection," said Li Feng, one of Hunan's volunteers.
Guidong lies along one of eight routes for the world's billions of migratory birds. Every autumn, clouds of birds fly over local mountains as they travel thousands of miles to dock in India and South East Asia.
But unlike the other two routes passing through the western and eastern parts of China, the middle route, forming a narrow channel in the provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi, features a great density of flocks and has been plagued by rampant poaching activities.
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