On November 2, a reporter from the New Yellow River paid attention to the discovery of the oriental white stork, a national first-class protected animal, that had died mysteriously in Heiyanzi Village, Tangshan, Hebei Province. On November 3, the local police station replied that "after examination by the relevant departments, the cause of death of the Eastern White Stork is suffocation." "This Oriental White Stork is large and has no obvious trauma, so why does it suddenly suffocate?" Wang Jianmin, a volunteer with 20 years of bird protection experience in the Tianjin-Hebei region, is also a little skeptical about this. In recent years, the abnormal death of the Oriental White Stork has often occurred in Tianjin, Tangshan, Hebei and other regions, what is the reason behind it?
The police said that the appraisal conclusion was that the death was suffocated, or caused by physical inability to tie the mire
"This is the first Eastern white stork we have found to die unnaturally during this year's migratory bird migration season." A volunteer, who did not want to be named, said. On the morning of November 1, he and two volunteers rushed to a shrimp pond near Heiyanzi West Village in Fengnan District, Tangshan, Hebei Province, where there was a fallen oriental white stork on a shoal with no obvious trauma, the bird's carcass was relatively plump, and the bird's beak was covered with mud. In this regard, the local police also intervened in the investigation.
On November 3, the local police station informed the volunteers that after identification by the relevant departments, the oriental white stork died of suffocation, excluding poisoning and infection with the virus. The police said, "Maybe the white stork has not eaten for several days, and its physical strength is not enough to stick into the mire." "In this regard, many volunteers have doubts about the above appraisal conclusions." This is an adult and relatively robust oriental white stork, and the habit is also to forage in the shoals, how can it suffocate to death? "Volunteers have not yet agreed on whether to re-identify.
It is understood that the Oriental White Stork is a migratory bird, nesting and breeding in Siberia and Heilongjiang River Basin every summer, as one of the eight major international passages for bird migration, every November and March of the following year, the Oriental White Stork will transit from Tangshan City Caofeidian District, Fengnan District, Tangshan International Tourism Island and other places.
"During our annual inspections, there are often Eastern White Storks suspected of poisoning and dying in this area." Wang Jianmin said. In 2019, in the Caofeidian Wetland Reserve in Hebei Province, volunteers found a number of oriental white storks in abnormal condition when patrolling, some died on the spot, some died in ineffective rescue, and two others were released after rescue. In this regard, the police also clearly informed that some of the causes of death of the Eastern White Stork were related to poisoning.
Behind the continuous death of the Oriental White Stork on the migration road
Migratory birds migrate to death, but some of them die unnaturally. Among them, it is not unrelated to the interest factor, and even there are people and birds competing for living space. After combing through previous reports, from November to December 2019 alone, volunteers have found 6 suspected poisoning incidents of Oriental White Stork in Hebei, Tianjin and other places, with a total of 19 endangered and 17 dead. In 4 of the 6 cases, 11 have been confirmed to be poisoned by highly toxic substances. From November 21 to 25, 2020, 31 Oriental White Storks were found dead for unknown reasons in areas such as Ningchegu, Binhai New Area, Tianjin, and Qinghe Farm in Ninghe District. After the relevant departments intervened in the investigation, they said that the infection of the Eastern White Stork with Mulleinia caused intestinal damage, coupled with the ingestion of bacteria, resulting in death after extensive tissue damage.
"The white storks that die within a certain range will be enough to attract the attention of the relevant departments, and many times there will be a very small number of dead white storks in scattered areas." Volunteers say some white storks will move during the poisoning period to forage, and the scene of death is not necessarily the scene of the incident.
In the view of Wang Jianmin, a volunteer with more than 20 years of experience in bird protection, the Oriental white stork has an abnormal cause of death on the migration road, and some criminals sprinkle poisonous food to lure the white stork to swallow, and then trade the poisoned white stork or sell it as a specimen, which is sold for a lot of money. In addition, Tianjin and Tangshan are the most important "stations" on the southern migration road of the Eastern White Stork, where they usually stop for more than a month before departing. During the stop, the villagers in the surrounding fish ponds had a headache.
"An adult Eastern white stork can eat 3 to 5 pounds of fish in a day. In recent years, there have been about 5,000 fish ponds in some wetlands and surrounding ponds in Tianjin and Tangshan, and some farmers are worried about the impact on their incomes and will drive away birds by firing cannons and other means. Sometimes, there are also some pesticides around to clean up harmful insects and sterilization, and white storks will die if they are eaten by mistake. Wang Jianmin said.
Volunteers suggested that local compensation buy the bottom of the fish pond for white stork habitat
It is understood that there are wetland reserves in Tianjin and Tangshan. Volunteers introduced that in some wetlands, in the process of water replenishment, even in the case of rainy weather, the water depth reaches one or two meters, which is not suitable for white storks to feed, so many white storks fly to the villagers' fish ponds to prey on small fish. "After fish ponds catch and sell big fish, there will be a lot of small fish at the bottom of the pond. In the local area, this small fish can sell for 10 yuan a catty, so some people will pick the bottom of the pond to buy. Therefore, the predation behavior of white storks will also affect the income of villagers. Wang Jianmin said that they had also suggested to the local authorities to give compensation to the villagers who suffered losses, but because the amount of fish at the bottom of the pond could not be estimated, it had not been implemented.
At present, it is the winter migration of migratory birds. Every year, the bird protection volunteer team records the number of Oriental White Storks in Tianjin, "There are already more than 1,000 in areas such as the Seven Caspian Sea Wetlands, and the number of Oriental White Storks will continue to increase in the coming week." Volunteers say they counted more than 5,000 last year.
It is understood that many migratory birds fly to the shoals and bird islands of the Seven Caspian Sea Wetlands for feeding and roosting. To this end, the relevant local departments have also lowered the water level in advance according to the habitat and foraging habits of different migratory birds, reserved shoals, released fish fry, and supplemented food, creating an ecological environment for migratory birds to safely forage and inhabit. Similarly, in Heiyanzi Town, Fengnan District, Tangshan, Hebei Province, the local government has also allocated funds to build artificial nests suitable for the habitat of eastern white storks.
Although many measures have been taken, Wang Jianmin and other volunteers, who are over 60 years old, still patrol the perimeter of various wetlands and guard the migration route of the oriental egret.
New Yellow River client reporter: Ding Guobin Editor: Sun Feifei
For more information, please pay attention to the New Yellow River client. Search for "New Yellow River" in the app store, download and install. The new Yellow River, running with the times!