Poisoned rare storks trigger calls for animal protection

TIANJIN - An endangered species of bird grabbed headlines in Chinese media over the past week not because of its elegant beauty, but because 20 died of poisoning in northern China.

Poachers poisoned the wild birds within a wetland nature reserve in North China's Tianjin municipality. Their actions left 20 Oriental white storks dead and 13 others sickened, triggering public outcry for intensified protection of wild animals and harsher punishments for those behind the deaths of the storks.

The birds, no more than 3,000 of which remain in the wild worldwide, were stopping at the city's Beidagang Wetland Nature Reserve along their migratory route from Northeast China to central Poyang Lake.

Sources with the reserve management committee have confirmed that the birds, as well as other species, were found poisoned on November 11 after an amateur photographer spotted the dead body of a stork.

Volunteers and workers from the Tianjin Wild Animal Rescue and Training Center carried out rescue work, retrieving 13 poisoned birds and 20 corpses.

Since being treated in the center, the 13 poisoned birds have made complete recoveries and are ready to be released on Wednesday morning, according to Dai Yuanming, director of the center.

Dai said the birds have been banded for further tracking and research.

Police said the water in the wetland was confirmed to have contained carbofuran, also known as furadan, one of the most toxic carbamate pesticides.

Local authorities are diluting the tainted water and looking for the sources of the pesticide. It is believed that the birds were poisoned by poachers who sell the rare birds to restaurants where wildfowls are sold illegally.

Though hunting and trading endangered animals are both banned in China, a large bird like the Oriental white stock can fetch about 200 yuan (about $32) on the black market, while a swan can garner up to 1,000 yuan.

Local authorities have since stepped up protection measures at the reserve, and a 50,000 yuan reward has been offered for clues on the whereabouts of the poachers.

The poisoning of the wild birds has triggered angry outbursts directed at poachers, as well as outcry for intensified wild animal protection.

"What a cruel and greedy slaughter! The storks are just like travellers on their way home, but now they will never have a chance to get back on their way," "xianyubujiaoao" wrote on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging platform.

"No trading, no poaching! The true murderers behind wild animal poaching are those greedy gluttons who devour almost everything," wrote Weibo user "linxiaohaidechuntian."

Xue Manzi, a famous Chinese angel investor and an active Weibo user, also asked the public not to eat wildfowls or other wild animals and urged authorities to intensify their crackdown on the illegal industrial chain of poaching, including restaurants that sell endangered animals.

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-11/21/content_15948713.htm

13 rare birds killed by poison

Thirteen oriental white storks died from pesticide poisoning in North China’s Tianjin on Tuesday, but another 13 poisoned white storks have recovered well, an expert involved in the rescue said.

“The official laboratory report will be released by the municipal government in a week, butbased on what we found during the rescue, it’s probably the pesticide containingorganophosphates, which can attack the nervous system, that killed the 13 white storks,” saidRong Wancheng, director of the Agricultural Service Center in Dagang, Tianjin, whichcooperated with a local breeding center to treat the injured birds.

Oriental white storks are listed as rare birds under first-grade State protection in China. Thereare only 2,500 of the species in the world, according to research by Bird Life International, aconservation group headquartered in Cambridge, UK.

The birds rest in Tianjin and Hebei province during their long flight south for the winter. InTianjin, the Beidagang Natural Reserve is the major habitat for them.

The poisoned birds were discovered by a wildlife photographer on Sunday, who raised thealarm that the birds were unwell.

“Two of them are in a serious condition but are not critical. All of them may continue theirmigration after their recovery,” Rong said.

Other birds, including wild ducks, have also been killed. The bodies of the rare white storks willbe given to the local natural museum. Many volunteers and officials from the government havebeen working in the reserve to save more poisoned birds.

Rong said there was a tradition of hunting before the 1980s in the area, and these white storkscan be eaten in the hours after being poisoned.

The local police bureau started investigating the matter on Sunday.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-11/13/content_15924827.htm