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TIANJIN, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Experts are calling for more efforts to win the battle against wild birds slaughter as more migratory birds are found to have fallen prey to poachers.
During the National Day holiday from October 1 to 7, about 3,000 living birds were rescued and 5,000 dead birds found, with the joint efforts of local officials and volunteers. Clap nets stretching for over 10,000 meters in the coastal areas of Tianjin Municipality and Tangshan City, Hebei Province were also retrieved.
In the border area between Tianjin and Hebei, more than 150 dead birds were found caught in several hundred meters of nets, including migratory birds such as green headed ducks, tits and ant birds.
The coastal area of Tianjin is part of one of the world's major bird migration routes. Poachers are at large in the autumn as this is when birds fly south from Tianjin to Tangshan for winter.
TWITTERING FOR HELP
On October 12, police and forestry authorities in north China's Hebei Province discovered a village den where wild birds were being kept and fattened for slaughter.
In a refrigerator of a residential house, piles of fattened frozen birds were found. Three rooms were crammed with various live birds in cages, including rice birds and red-breasted flycatchers.
"The suspects confessed that a profit chain was formed -- hunters set nets on the coast, and the caught birds were sold to local farmers to be raised before being sold to Guangdong Province," said Jing Xinbo, a law enforcement officer in Tangshan City. "Some went to the table, and a few were made into cosmetics."
"It is a highly profitable business," birds protection volunteer Yi Dan said. "A piece of net costs just several yuan, while birds caught at low cost can be sold for several hundred or even thousand yuan."
UNDER PROTECTORS' WING
Strengthened supervision is hoped to save the birds.
Wang Feng, head of a forestry law enforcement management station in Tianjin, said the station was severely understaffed when compared to the ever-growing groups of poachers.
Jing Xinbo said there was a lack of supervision along the roads where the birds are transported. "Forestry departments rarely set inspection stations on the roads, and refrigerated vehicles are never checked," he said.
As urgency for change mounts, experts are calling for more action to win the battle against wild bird slaughter.
Wang Jianmin, a Tianjin-based bird protection volunteer, said that it was important to urge people to stop eating wild bird meat as this would stop the killing.
"If we don't eat the birds, there will be no capturing in the first place," Wang said. "It is because there is a market that bird poaching continues."
Lu Jun, director with the Bird Banding Center of China, called for related departments to work together.
"In addition to the poaching, it is also important to investigate the transportation and sale of birds," Lu said.
The government should promote bird protection so that the public will stay away from any activities that threaten wild birds, he added
Jing Xinbo cautioned consumers about the dangers of eating wild birds. "While fattening the birds, unscrupulous vendors use tons of medicine to prevent them from dying as they raise them in a terrible environment," Jing said. "Volunteers, non-governmental organizations and other social forces should join hands in bird protection."
