2016-10-09 09:42
CCTV Editor: Feng Shuang
Urbanization often pits
development against the environment. And in Xinjiang, one of the victims is the
white-headed duck. The duck is one of the rarest birds in the world. Bird-Life
International, the world's largest nature conservation partnership, estimated
in 2008 that the duck's world population was only somewhere between 8,000 to
13,000. A small group of these ducks have been found at a small lake, just ten
kilometers from the regional capital Urumqi.
In today's episode, reporter Han
Bin meets a group of conservation volunteers. Their struggle with local
developers and ordinary people, will decide the fate of this endangered species
in China.
Hidden among the densely
populated urban areas, is a small patch of wetland. The lake is home to some
one hundred species of birds. At least one of them is under threat.
"The white-headed duck is on
the world's list of endangered species. It's not been registered in China, so
cannot be protected by law. It's also a star species, as it's the prototype of
Disney's Donald Duck," Yan Xi, volunteer from Wild Xinjiang, said.
"How can we have such a
fine-looking species? -with a white head, blue bill, and stiff tail," Da
Xiang, volunteer from Wild Xinjiang, said.
This habitat provides the ducks
with the resources to reproduce. But someone else wants their home.
Construction is rapidly eroding the wetland.
There have been so many vehicles,
people who go to the lake for outings, or even to play with slingshots.
Yan Xi and Da Xiang belong to a
group of local volunteers who have appointed themselves the ducks' protectors.
Their short-term goal is to have all 24 ducks make it to migration season at
the end of October.
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