Kunming, 7 Jul (Xinhua) -- Title: Let endangered species "survive in a desperate place" -- a chronicle of the "kingdom of animals and plants" yunnan to save extremely small populations
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wu Xiaoyang, Yue Ranran, Yao Bing, and Zhao Peiran
In nature, there are some animals and plants with very small populations that may become extinct at any time, called "very small population species". Saving them is a top priority for the conservation of biodiversity.
Over the years, yunnan, the "kingdom of animals and plants", has implemented more than 120 rescue and conservation projects to rescue 112 species of extremely small populations, such as Maple, Rich Mandarin, Asian Elephant, and Yunnan Golden Snub-nosed Monkey.
From the discovery of 5 trees in the wild to more than 50,000 artificial breeding, the rich people's maple from wild extinction to the return to colonization of 6893 trees, the Growth of Asian Elephants from 193 to about 300, the growth of Yunnan Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys from more than 1000 to more than 3300... Species that were once "life on the line" are now "desperate".
Fruit of the Rich Man's Maple (file photo). Xinhua News Agency (Courtesy of Kunming Endangered Animals and Plants Shelter and Rescue Center)
Rescue and protection, can not be delayed
Species extinction is not far away. The scientific community generally believes that the Earth is currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction, and this time the mass extinction is mainly caused by human activities.
The fifth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook, released by the secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity last September, states that "humanity is at a crossroads in the issue of a legacy to future generations. Biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate, and the pressures that are reducing it are intensifying. ”
According to the information released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, there are 4357 species of vertebrates known in China (except marine fish), of which 932 are threatened species in critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable conditions. Researchers have assessed and found that there are 35,784 species of higher plants known in China, of which 3,879 are threatened species.
"The biosphere on Earth constitutes a community of life. Existing species are a precious heritage that has evolved over billions of years; the disappearance of any species will reduce the stability of the community of life. Wen Cheng, a member of the World Heritage Expert Committee of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, said. Studies have shown that a plant often coexists with 10-30 other organisms, and the extinction of one plant can lead to an existential crisis for 10-30 organisms.
With thousands of threatened species, how can conservation prioritize?
"In 2005, Yunnan proposed the concept of 'very small populations' and implemented rescue protection operations." Sun Weibang, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that very small population species have four significant characteristics, that is, the number of populations is very small, the habitat is narrow or intermittently distributed, the human disturbance is serious, and it is on the verge of extinction at any time. An accidental event can bring them ruin.
Rescue and protection, can not be delayed. From concept to action, from local to national, there is a broad consensus on the rescue and protection of very small populations. In 2010, the Yunnan Provincial Government approved the Outline of the Plan for the Rescue and Conservation of Species of Extremely Small Populations in Yunnan Province (2010-2020), listing 62 species of plants and 50 species of animals as species of extremely small populations and implementing rescue protection. Subsequently, the release of the National Plan for the Rescue and Conservation of Wild Plants of Extremely Small Populations (2011-2015) further elevated the protection of wild plants of extremely small populations to national action.
With the joint efforts of all parties, many species in extremely small populations that are in danger have achieved a change of life against the sky.
"Plant Giant Panda"
Maple growing in the wild (file photo). Xinhua News Agency
It sounds strange, but it is actually a kind of "maple tree", named after its discovery in Yangpi County, Yunnan. It is a typical wild plant with a very small population, known as the "plant giant panda".
Its discovery was purely accidental. In 2001, when Dr. Chen Yousheng, a doctor at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, inspected the specimens of the maple family, he found that a specimen collected from Malutang in Yangpi County and marked with Gongshan maple was different from Gongshan maple, and speculated that it might be a new species. In April of the following year, he went to Malutang in Yangpi County for a field investigation and found this plant after several twists and turns, when only 5 plants were found in the wild, and later named it Yang Hao Maple.
"Its leaves are furry, like a fat palm. The fruit has a pair of fruit wings, like dragonfly wings. Chen Yousheng said that the habitat of the distribution point of the maple is obviously degraded, and the interference of human activities is serious.
In order to artificially breed maples, the two major problems of pollination and seed germination must be solved.
Due to the distance between the plants, the pollination effectiveness of the maple is not high, and few seeds are produced. Researchers have tried grafting, but have not succeeded. Later, Zhang Guoshu, a villager in Malutang who participated in the protection of the Yangtao maple, thought of a "soil method": in the flowering season of the Yanglian maple, the flowering branches of one tree were cut off and tied to another tree, and he did not expect that pollination was successful. In the autumn of 2008, the successful pollination of the maple harvested a batch of seeds.
Male inflorescence of the maple (file photo). Xinhua News Agency
In natural habitats, the germination rate of maple seeds is very low. The local forestry department routinely sowed more than 50,000 seeds and obtained only 5 seedlings. Entrusted by Chen Yousheng, Zhang Guoshu sent thousands of seeds to Sun Weibang and asked him to help artificially raise seedlings. Sun Weibang did not dare to be sloppy, led the team to quickly study, mastered the key technology of "awakening" seeds, and successfully cultivated more than 1600 seedlings of Maple.
At present, more than 50 seedlings have been planted in Kunming Botanical Garden, more than 4,600 trees have been returned to the original habitat of Yangtao Maple, 4,000 plants have been planted in The Caojian Forest Farm in Yunlong County and zhicun Forest Farm in Honghe Prefecture, and about 38,000 plants are waiting to return to nature in the nursery. He said: "Now it can be said that the 'plant giant panda' maple has been out of danger! ”
From resource survey, scientific research, in situ conservation, near-site conservation, ex situ conservation, field return to germplasm resource conservation, the rescue and conservation practice of Maple Maple provides a reference for the conservation of wild plants in other extremely small populations.
According to the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Yunnan Province, at present, Yunnan has built 30 in situ protection communities, 18 ex situ protection bases and 4 near-site protection bases. A number of wild plants with very small populations, such as Diantong, Dianzang olive, Fumin citrus, canopy wood, and large tree rhododendron, were rescued from the extinction warning line.
Wild Elephant "Sheep Girl": From "Abandoned Baby" to "Star"
Elephant herd taken on May 28 in Eshan County, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Chao
More than a dozen wild Asian elephants in Yunnan have recently become the focus of global public opinion. In fact, Asian elephants are also typical of very small population species. They are mainly distributed in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er and Lincang prefectures in Yunnan, and are in a critically endangered state.
This group of northward moving wild elephants is not yet the earliest "stars" in the wild elephant world. Before they became popular, there was an Asian elephant called "Sheep Girl" who completed the counterattack from "abandoned baby" to "star".
Six years ago, on August 17, 2015, in the Olive Dam of Simao District, Pu'er City, an old woman found an abandoned newborn baby elephant in her firewood room, which looked dying and had suppurated umbilical cord wounds. She fed the baby elephant some water and called the wildlife rescue station.
Subsequently, the baby elephants were sent to the Asian Elephant Breeding and Rescue Center in Yunnan, China, Xishuangbanna. Medical staff debridement, anti-inflammatory, nutritional intake. Unable to find elephant milk, the doctors decided to feed the baby elephant goat's milk. Since the baby elephant "belongs to the sheep" and grew up drinking goat's milk, everyone named the female baby elephant "sheep girl".
The first person that "Yang Yu" saw when she opened her eyes was Chen Jiming. He studied wild elephant domestication and breeding skills in Laos for 6 years, and after returning to China, he was recruited to the Asian Elephant Breeding and Rescue Center and became an "elephant father". "In the beginning, the 4 'elephant dads' took turns taking care of it and sharing a room with him at night," he said. After it slowly recovered, it became more active, and even climbed into bed to sleep with people. ”
In order for the "sheep girl" to grow smoothly, it is necessary to find a "mother" for it. Chen Jiming introduced that the rescue center found two female elephants - "Ranran" and "Pingping" to give "sheep girls" as temporary mothers, but at the beginning, as long as the "sheep girls" approached, the two female elephants drove it away, probably because the "sheep girls" had the smell of sheep. "Elephant Daddy" thought of a "elephant dung cover-up plan", and they found the elephant dung of two female elephants and coated the "sheep girl" all over her body. This time it worked, and the two female elephants began to play happily with the "sheep girl".
On August 12, 2020, the rescue elephant "Sheep Lady" was with "Elephant Daddy" Chen Jiming. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Xinbo
Now, the 6-year-old "sheep girl" has grown into a "big girl" with a height of 1.7 meters and a weight of 1.3 tons. Rewilding training became a daily routine. Every morning, after taking her temperature, the "sheep girl" follows the "elephant father" up the mountain to learn to identify the food that can be eaten in the wild. The staff also opened a vibrato number for it, released videos of "sheep girls" sliding the hillside, playing football, and selling cuteness, and received nearly 10 million likes.
"Wild elephants are wild after all, in order to alleviate the conflict between humans and elephants, we have built anti-elephant fences for villagers, used high-tech means to monitor and warn, and strived to make people and elephants live in harmony." Xiang Ruwu, director of the Animal and Plant Protection Division of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Yunnan Province, said. At present, the population of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan has increased from 193 at the low point to about 300. The rescue center where the "sheep girl" is located has participated in the rescue of more than 20 wild elephants.
The counterattack of Asian elephants is not alone. Through the adoption of measures such as habitat restoration, food source land construction, species dynamic monitoring, and ecological corridor construction, the protection of animals in yunnan very small populations has achieved remarkable results. Monitoring shows that the number of "national treasures" such as Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkeys, green peacocks and black-necked cranes has shown a restorative growth.
This is a photograph of the Yunnan Golden Snub-nosed Monkey in shangri-la,Yunnan Province, on May 23, 2020 in shangri-la's Golden Snub-nosed Monkey National Park in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Changshan
Green peacock captured by infrared camera (file photo). Xinhua News Agency (Courtesy of Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau)
At sunrise, black-necked cranes fly in the Dashanbao Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province on February 25. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Chao