Sad Journey of Migratory Birds

【摘要】Sorrow of birds: massacre on their journeys It is reported that throughout the world billions of migratory birds will have a continental journey each year. Among the 8 ...

Flocks of migratory birds fly over lush hills. They spread their wings and soar high through the valleys. What a magnificent picture this is! However, in hunters’ eyes, the view of flocks of birds flying together means profits rather than magnificence.

Ducks know first when rivers become warm in spring. Birds fly south first when leaves fall down in autumn. It’s the migratory birds’ natural instinct to escape from cold winter to pursue warmth. With the growing coldness of weather, various wild birds begin the journey towards south and thus the yearly migratory season of birds comes.

On 8th November, according to the latest data of Beijing Panther Wildlife Protection Station, over 200,000 migratory birds gathered on the water surface of the Wild Duck Nature Reserve in Yanqing County, preparing to fly south to spend the winter. This was the first batch of migratory birds flying to Beijing. Among them, we could find whooper swans, grey cranes, swan gooses and mallards.

On 14th November, a large sign was put up in front of Beijing Wild Duck National Wetland Park. This is to create an undisturbed environment for migratory birds. During the two months when migratory birds stay, they will be taken good care of there.

The end of a year has come again. Can all migratory birds survive the winter?

Sorrow of birds: massacre on their journeys

It is reported that throughout the world billions of migratory birds will have a continental journey each year. Among the 8 migratory paths, there are 3 paths passing through China. However, due to the large-scale hunting by some illegal hunters, the paths originally for escaping from hunger and coldness to warmth have now turned into roads of no return for numerous migratory birds.

Every year in autumn, flocks of birds will fly from northern places like Siberia, Inner Mongolia, and North China Plain to China’s southern regions to spend the winter through three different paths of east, middle and west. Places located in the midland of China like Hunan Province and Jiangxi Province form an extremely narrow migratory path for birds, which is the “Ancient Migration Path of Birds” for the birds taking the way of the middle path. However, in places like Xinhua, Xinzhao, Yanling and Guidong in Hunan Province and Ji'an in Jiangxi Province, the tradition of hunting has a long history. Probably, the hunters in those places have summarized the migration patterns of those birds. In recent years, their hunting custom has become more and more rampant to the extent that the “Ancient Migration Path of Birds” in these areas has become massacre place of migratory birds.

Deep in the mountains, the time of slaughtering starts when night falls. “Hundreds of LED lights are installed on each hilltop. When the lights are on, the whole valley is lighted. The scene is so magnificent that even singers’ concerts become dimed. Behind those dazzling lights hide hundreds of guns. Under the LED lights, birds become white spots when flying over. After the incessant gunfire, birds drop to the ground, dead with feathers scattered. ” This is a real-scene shown in a short documentary film about the massacre on the birds’ journeys and it has led to the exposure of many severe cases of bird hunting in other places.

According to the reporter’s investigation, there are mainly three kinds of bird hunters. One is local villagers. Due to the underdevelopment of local transportation and economy, the villagers live a poor life with little meat to eat. They go hunting to improve their meals. The second kind is professional bird hunters. They are equipped with professional apparatus and have an organized arrangement and clear division of labor. The illegal hunted birds are to sell for profits. The third kind is the most terrible. Under the temptation of materialism, the drive of profits and pervert spiritual enjoyment, some people have made bird hunting commercialized and entertainment-oriented.

In the interview, the reporter finds that the underlying reason of bird hunting is the lack or lag of governmental supervision and law enforcement. The places these migratory birds fly over are mostly mountainous areas with vast land and little population. Some areas are even located in the borders between counties or provinces and thus become “no administration zones”. Besides, bird flocks often fly in the midnight and bird hunters often hide in darkness. Once they heard a movement, they will instantly flee into the mountain and disappear. In addition to that, the life safety of enforcement officers is also a big problem. Many bird hunters carry their home-made guns. If the enforcement officers are encountered with gunfire, it is unlikely to find out the one who fires.

Let migratory birds fly

Since the beginning of this year, Hunan Province and other provinces have launched a special action to protect migratory birds. They have deployed a large number of enforcement officers to patrol the key areas such as the path channels of migratory birds, farmers markets, bird and flower markets and hotels to strike the actions of illegal hunting, business processing and transportation.

As to how to protect migratory birds, experts have reached a census that this is not the responsibility of one department. For instance, for the strengthening of supervision of the circulation of highly toxic pesticides, it needs not only the supervision of forestry sector but also the intervention of business sector. The hunting, selling, transportation and eating of migratory birds relate to many links and administrative departments. Every department should have the sense of responsibility and set up an efficient coordination mechanism. Only in this way can a strict protection net of migratory birds be established.

Besides supervision and law enforcement, some deeper system problems also deserve our attention. For the criminal cases of hunting migratory birds, the legal standard is too high. Only the cases of killing more than 20 birds can be filed on record. While in foreign countries, the standard is relatively low. For instance, in 2007, English Prince Harry was subjected to police investigation for hunting two endangered birds protected by law. The essential solution is to make everyone aware of the importance of protecting migratory birds. Only in this way can the phenomena of hunting be reduced and the battle of protecting migratory birds be started.

Now, many volunteers and media people are working towards the safe migration of birds. In December, 2012, the charitable foundation of “Let Migratory Birds Fly” was officially founded with the support of China Social Assistance Foundation. It intends to support the national volunteer teams of protecting birds to carry out their work including routine birds patrols, cleaning of bird nets, illegal trade reporting, rescuing wounded birds and environmental education and promotion to safeguard the roads of migration for migratory birds.

The charitable foundation of “Let Migratory Birds Fly” is a public welfare program initiated by public figure Deng Fei, which involves many environment protection agencies. At the end of 2012, the charitable foundation of “Let Migratory Birds Fly” supported by China Social Assistance Foundation set up China’s first public foundation with the theme of protecting migratory birds and got the qualification of public funds. Since the first half of 2013, the foundation has supported 19 agencies to carry out birds protection work, which involves many important habitats of migratory birds across North Port of Tianjin, Beihai of Guangxi and Laotieshan of Dalian. The foundation carries out its work in two aspects: anti-poaching and habitats protection.