Options by the Folk Bird Lovers
According to statistics Rom birds experts,there are 9 bird migratory routes around the world, 4 of which cross China. Migratory birds are greatly threatened by human activities and illegal poaching. Among bird species, people hurt raptors the most as they can bring more economic benefit and be sold for their meat, or as a pet via the illegal wildlife trade.
In China many groups aim to try their best to save these magnificent wild birds, unfortunately there are no uniform rescuing standards or methodology being practiced by groups. With good intentions, individuals at times will rescue raptors in need on their own. On the evening of November 6 2013, folk animal rescue volunteer asked for help on Weibo regarding a mouse and an Indian scoops owl that was trying to prey on the mouse, that were both stuck on the same rat-board. People asked on Weibo how best to rescue and wash the glue Rom the owls feathers? The attempts and various answers to save the owls life became a hot online topic and different suggestions were given such as; using a mixture of essential dishwashing liquid, sand, salt and even chocolate. Thankhzlly the owl survived.
On the afternoon ofJanuary2 2013, bird photography enthusiast, Mr. So, received a phone call 6:ore a security officer of the villa community under Crown Head Ridge in Beihai, Guanprovince. The officer said that a vulture perched very high on a tree had attracted many people’s attention and some individuals were expressing an interest to shoot it with a shotgun. To avoid poachers and such behavior, the security officer tried in vain to shoo the vulture away but it did not work. Mr. So and security officers stayed with the vulture and waited for policeman to arrive and help protect the predator. Wen the police arrived they constantly drove the patrol back and forth with a to protect the vulture.
The next morning, the vulture safely flew away Some individuals participate in rescuing because of their responsibilities. Lao Wang, who lives in the village has been a forest ranger for more than ten years. He always drives a forest ranger’s motorcycle to work and earns about I,OOORMB per month. Lao Wang has a good relationship with a JI the bird lovers, especially the bird conservation people. He always informs them when he notices new birds and is very timely with his information. However, some individuals prefer to profit Rom the birds than to appreciate them. Along their migration route, raptors pass by and rest on the drill platforms ofHainan province. In the middle of the night oilman will look for the raptors flying through the night sly and use a strong flashlight from their phones to catch them. A majority of the old workers will then inhumanely rear the wild birds for illegal
purposes.
Those who protect birds are worthy of praise. They are millions of volunteers, bird watching lovers and bird photography enthusiasm. To protect raptors they follow them and other birds with the season. They get firsthand beauty of the birds, but also sadly witness diminished habitat and ill poaching behavior. They photograph the birds’ beauty and also post their pictures of the evidence they find poaching, which frighten the hunters.Raptors should have the same as humans, to live keenly and enjoy the sunshine, water and Food. But a few places in China, they face nets, guns and traps.
Gunshots from the Crown Head Ridge
Crown Head Ridge is an important migration route for the raptors. Every yell in October a luge group of raptors come from the sea, comer and then go across the coastline to the west. Around 2010, a teacher specializing in birds from Beihai Academy of Beihang University came to Crown Head Ridge with his graduate students.The teacher gave himself the name of~Bo Lao, when translated into English, means ‘strike”. Bo Lao’s students were asked to band in their graduation thesis, which focused on investigating the mptors migrating over Crown Head Ridge.
As the students began to observe and research the mptors they surprisingly would hear the occasional gunshot The local people had a traditional custom of producing guns and homemade cannons. Over one year, they heard at least 3,000-4,000 gunshots shot with live union in 2009. In 2015, 100-200 gunshots can still be heard, similar to someone hoIding a military gun.
The shots came from the hunting ground of Crown Head Ridge. Up to 100m of empty areas towards the sea would be developed into hunting ground. Trees would be cut and grass would be clewed away and only left live bait on the ground. Raptors were used as live bait during the migration season because raptors instinctive behavior is to congregate in large groups. Pigeons or turtledoves were used instead of raptors as live bait when it is not migration season. Unfortunately when raptors dive in on either live bait they would be caught and sold on the illegal wildlife trade to be someone’s pet, toy or for their meat .Monitors found that groups of raptors like the oriental honey-buzzard would migrate over the location and be cruelly shot down, one by one, group by group as soon as they came near to Crown Head Ridge.
Similar to many cities in China and worldwide, there are photography groups in Behai When confronted with this problem, Beihai Citizen Volunteer Association developed the idea to Cooperate with Beihai Photography Association and photographers to take pictures within the hunting ground during the raptor’s migration season. Not only to take vivid photographs of the raptors but to post pictures of the hunters on Weibo and other social media to restrain hunters and protect the mptors.
Beihai Citizen Volunteer Ambassador also worked with the Forest Public Security to patrol,dismantle nets, rescue and release live baits of pigeons and at times other species and to demolish the entire hunting ground. They also used GPS technology to locate and number other known hunting grounds and will the police immediately when someone poaches in these locations.
This rescue method was termed conquer the Hunting Area” and received high praise when it was used to train to individuals fore other bird conservation organizations.
Nets on Mountains in Qingdao
Zhang Shiping has been involved in local wildlife rescue For ten years in Qingdao. Since mid-September 2013, Qingdao Wildlife Rescue Association launched the activity “Qingdao Birds cuing”, where volunteers almost daily patrol,dismantle nets and rescue and release birds. Birds are often captured in the dark, because it is hard for them to distinguish the thin nets in the dark. Therefore, tricky poacher checks nets at 4:OOam and 10:OOpm. Volunteers often start the trek through Qingdao’s difficult geographical mountain range after 6:00am,reaching their destination around 10:OOam. Upon their arrival, they sadly view only feathers, wings and the evidence of the dead raptor’s head being cut off. Zhang Shiping states that the hunters and poachers take off the raptor’s heads to prevent being attacked, and then sell the body to a restaurant. Additionally local legends say that it is bad luck for people to be seen by raptors, particularly owls.
Most raptors are caught with nets, not only shotguns. Poachers in Crown Head Ridge also use nets alongside shotguns. Traditional and experienced hunters can catch up to 100 eagles every three months and sell them to merchants for 700RMB for their meat, or to individuals or businesses who wish to have the eagles as pets.Hunters traditionally weaved nets with Flexibly bark, but now nylon rope is used.An individual can weave the nets with a required width and length of 1.5m in two days. Skilled hunters understand eagle migration and hunting patteres.
They place the live bail a pigeon] underneath the net, so when the eave dives for its food, it will be instantly caught.
After placing their nets and live bait, hunters check the location once a day to see if a raptor has been caught. Some hunters will build a but to live in the area for several days. In the northeast of China, such behavior is called “waiting for the eagle”, and the entire process is caved “eagle catching”. Dead eagles are sold to restaurants at a price of around 200RMB. Local legend says eating eagles can cure individuals h:ore disease or erectile . Some people also present it to others as a symbol of a good relationship. Eagles that are captured and sustain heavy injuries due to the nets will be killed and used for bait for other eagles.
Traditionally eagle hunters have informal rules to not hunt during eagles’ breeding time, between the months of May and September. Sadly the lure of economic benefit has made many hunters disregard the traditional rules. Although raptor’s nests are in tall trees or cliffsides and there are only 2 to 6 eaglets in it, the hunters will use ropes to climb cliffs or trees and steal the eaglets.An individual eaglet can be sold for between 1,000 to 2,000RMB as a pet.
Eagles are highly difficult to catch. As a result of their high value as a luxury item due to their appearance and weight, poachers can sadly earn more than 100,OOORMB for three months. Goshawks can be sold as 700 to I,500RMB, are very popular in west Asia, so its price is higher and golden eagle is at least 5,000 to 6000 RMB, at most up to 10,OOO RMB.
There is an illegal raptor trading market in Jiaozhou, Qingdao city Experts understand the process of buying and trading eagles, which is supposed to be secretive but is a well-known method. People can send message in BBS or QQ groups to buy raptors.
Bird-conservation League of Dalian Helps Rescue
Laobe Mountain covers an area of an estimated 64,000km of landscape due its range encompass nature reserve his also an important mptor aliyah mute, as the birds trod the south. Year-round the bird conservation league of Dalian diligently works and organizes conservation activities such as patrolling and dismantling nets at last 4times per week. They focus these conservation protection activities during the migration and breed.
Laotie Moutain’s nets are as countless as the sane as Qingdao’s and the numbers of raptors killed or traded ham poaching are incredibly high. There an two kinds of bird nets. One is set on the ground like a wall, which Dalian locals caved “wall-shaped nets”. It is set high and wide to ensure that raptors will die as they dive at it to catd1 the bait. The other kind of this called ~sway nets~ by Dalian locals as they are hung in a tree. These nets are very easily dismantle conservation patrols.
Previously it was much harder to dismantle sway nets duan wall-shaped nets. Now those in the conservation league utilize United States military equipment and can easily climb mountains and solitary trees. The best tools for resealing birds are samples machetes, scissors and tailor thrum scissors. Machetes are used to cut branches or bamboo stems to make a safe path. When a net is bound, they cut off the net mesh to get to the caught raptor, then cut off ropes and mesh on the raptor’s body using scissors.
The mesh is very thin and can easily catch into a part of the raptor’s body causing death. When raptors am found without serious injury they are given saline or water before they are released, as most of the raptors in the nets do not die from injury or starvation but due to thirst.
It is very hard to rescue owls and owlets. Owlets are unable to hunt or fly without their parents, and when found, owlets have to be properly to learn survival skills. However to do that required a series of steps, questions and problems that had to be overcome. Owlets eat of live mice a day but to provide that is a massive problem as dead mice carry and the live mice?The open aviary or to the owlets, and toke live mice, sanitation practices maintained.
Fortunately the eagle players of Shenyang, those whom kept eagles as pets or toys, have became eagle rescue An empty h donated. Now the citizens Of Shenyan happily aught live mouse for the owls and a volunteer generously donated his own to be a release location for the birds.
Compared with center has for established a non-governmental organization.In December 11, the Beijing Raptor by Beijing Normal University Wildlife Station Beijing Forestry Bureau and International and rehabilitation training injured med and mptors, which in wild habitat when deemed able to interdependently survive.
Since being established the Raptor Rescue Centre has resaled 33 kinds numbering ova 3,600. Post-treatment, more than 5596 of the raptors have been re-released into the wild am two medthods and means choosing the time and place mptors are medically and deemed healthy ‘ release” rehabilitating the mptors to learn survival skids and this way requires more , Raptors conservation and protection is highly important as raptors play an integral role in ecosystems.
Many of China’s bird conservation and photography groups, conservation and protection activities display the value of raptors in their aesthetics and how protecting them rather than hunting them for their meat as a pet, positively benefits the community.
