The green peafowl is the only native peacock in China. There are only three species of peacocks in the world: blue peafowl, green peafowl and Congo peacock. In daily life, we see blue peacocks in zoos.
Green peacocks are known as the king of peacocks, they live in Yunnan, are critically endangered species, and have been listed as first-class key protected animals by the state. Its degree of protection even exceeds that of giant pandas, so why are green peacocks so rare?
About Green Peacock:
In appearance, the size of the green peafowl is the largest known pheasant bird, in terms of feathers, the neck of the male blue peacock is filamentous blue feathers, while the male green peacock's neck and chest feathers are scaly golden-green feathers. On the head stands a tuft of crested feathers with scale-like feathers and a golden-green color.
For females, blue peacocks have duller feathers, while green peacocks are still beautiful, except that the tail feathers are shorter than those of males, and there is little difference in other aspects. The beauty of the green peacock can be described as a fairy graceful green sparrow shadow, shameful of the blue sky to show its tail, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a national bird!
In terms of numbers, according to the latest survey results, the number of green peafowl is currently only about 235 to 285. Historically, green peafowl was widely distributed in many provinces and regions in southern China, but now, with the impact of human activities, environmental degradation has been exacerbated, making the green peafowl habitat patching increasingly serious, currently only distributed in parts of Yunnan, other places are not available, the population has become small enough to be said to be endangered.
In terms of rank, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the green peafowl from vulnerable (VU) to endangered (EN) status. In May 2017, Yunnan Province released the Red List of Biological Species in Yunnan Province (2017 Edition), and the green peafowl was listed as critically endangered (CR). The mainland lists green peafowl as a first-class protected animal, and prohibits the killing, illegal trade and transportation of green peafowl and its products.
At this point, some people may ask:
Why the Green Peacock? With so many endangered creatures, what is so special about the green peacock?
In addition to the reasons mentioned above such as native native, beautiful elegance, cultural symbols and other reasons for green peacocks themselves, more importantly, protecting green peacocks is not just about protecting green peafowls.
In 2017, the local investment of 1 billion yuan to build a hydropower station provoked strong opposition from animal protection groups, and the "green peacock war" began, surrounded by other rare species.
But build a hydroelectric power station where they live, and if the hydropower station is built, it will flood the place where they live, and then what will happen needless to say, you can guess, right? Some people complained about the green peacock, and some people wanted to build a hydropower station, and the two sides started a lawsuit.
The survey found that in addition to green peacocks, there are also national first-class protected animals, national second-class protected animals such as junglefowl, egrets, white-bellied brocades, macaques, iguanas, first-class protected plants Chen's cycads, precious orchids and a large number of other species.
Black-necked long-tailed pheasant
Once the power station is built to store water, a total of about 90 kilometers of inundation will be formed in the two upstream rivers, and a large area of green peafowl habitat, together with pristine tropical monsoon forest vegetation and countless rare animals and plants, will be submerged more than 100 meters below the water surface.
Therefore, the green peafowl is like an umbrella species, protecting the many wildlife here, and together with them, it maintains this precious river valley ecosystem.
Although the case was won in the end, did the victory really come?
While the final result is exciting, the revelation is heavy:
What to do with half-built hydropower plants? Will it continue to be built? Who will take care of the destroyed natural environment? In this whole matter, if the construction continues, it will definitely be a difficult result for environmental protection organizations to accept. Environmental groups only want them to stop working, but this is a huge blow to the project's investors. This also means that there is no win-win situation.
Perhaps we should strengthen people's concept of protection of the natural environment, perhaps we should improve the protection level of animals, but all this requires us to invest our whole body enthusiasm, recognize the preciousness of life, and understand the inseparability of nature and human beings.
So, do you think Green Peacock won?