"You can't see such big wings, oh, it flew away..." On February 9, the staff of Mucheng Township, Longling County, Baoshan City, Yunnan Province, was surprised to find a "big bird" with a white head during a daily patrol on the banks of the Nu River, and recorded its figure resting on the branches with their mobile phones. After the identification of Zeng Wei, a technician of the Southwest Survey and Planning Institute of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, the alpine vulture, which was identified as a genus of vultures in the family Hawk family, belongs to the national second-level key protected wild animals and is also a near-threatened species in the world. This was the first time that alpine vultures had been photographed in Longling County.
In just 30 seconds of video footage, only to see a mountain vulture resting at the head of the tree, when it heard a series of "surprise, admiration" sounds from people, it first protruded its small white head, and then quickly spread its wings, flapped its long wings, and struggled to glide and take off... The alpine vulture flew away and took away everyone's "surprise"!
In the Nu River Basin, Cai Shuangfa made a confession
According to Zeng Wei, the alpine vulture is a large bird of prey. It is often grouped in tundra forests in the upper part of alpine forests or in highland meadows, deserts and rocky areas, and in winter it also moves down to the foothills. It feeds mainly on animal carcasses or debris, and has a keen sense of vision and smell, often hovering high in the air in search of food on the ground.
"Vultures soar in the air." Adult alpine vultures have wings that can open up to 2 meters and are extremely capable of flying, reaching an altitude of more than 9,000 meters, making it one of the highest flying birds in the world.
On the banks of the Nu River, Cai Shuangfa confessed
According to relevant data, the alpine vulture is mainly distributed in Yunnan, Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang and other places in China, and is a national second-level key protected wild animal, which has been listed as a near-threatened (NT) species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, 2021).
It is reported that since 2022, Longling County has also monitored a variety of national key protected wild animals such as hornbills and gray cranes, which has increased the number of known vertebrates in Longling County to 549 species, especially the national first- and second-level key protected wild animals have increased from 64 species 16 years ago to 107 species now. That is to say, longling county, a small area of less than 2900 square kilometers, is inhabited by more than 10% of the country's key protected wildlife. To a certain extent, it reflects the continuous improvement of the quality of the natural ecological environment in Longling County, creating a "natural living room" for the survival and reproduction of wild animals.