For the Birds

The raptor， or bird of prey， in- cludes birds in orders of Falconiformes and Strigiformes. In China， all raptors are under state protection as endangered wild animals. Though few in number， their position at the top of the food chain makes the birds a crucial piece of the country’s ecosystem. Some remain in trouble， yet greater efforts are being made to help them.

Long-Term Salvation

On October 28， 2013， Zhang Shiping， vice president of the Qingdao Wildlife Rescue Society in Shandong Province announced to his WeChat bird protection group： “Over the last few days， Qingdao Forestry Bureau has removed the birdcatching nets around the city. Hopefully it’s not just temporary.”

Since mid-September 2013， when the society launched its Saving the Birds campaign， volunteers have been working hard every day， patrolling mountains， removing nets， and rescuing birds.

Generally speaking， raptors such as gold eagles， peregrine falcons， saker falcons， goshawks， kestrels， and sparrow hawks are targets for hunters， who usually use nets. Hunting season falls between September and November， during which time hawks migrate from the northeast to the south across eastern and central regions of China.

The birds are caught most often at night， when darkness limits their vision. Despite their indifference towards antipoaching laws， most hunters do follow a few rules. For instance， they don’t hunt during breeding season between May and September. Unfortunately， greedier poachers now even take newborns from their nests.

Empty Nests

For wild animals， even more devastating than hunting is loss of habitat.

Kalamaili， “black mountain” in Kazak， is sandwiched in the Junggar Basin. It was once teeming with migrant birds， making it especially popular for those at the top of the food chain. Since 2002， Ma Ming， a researcher from the Xinjiang Research Institute of Ecology and Geology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences， has studied the reproductive behavior of raptors in Kalamaili mountain areas in collaboration with foreign experts.

Raptors seldom abandon their nests because they’re so laborious to build. Nevertheless， investigations of 400 nests show their usage ratio gradually decreasing： 9 percent in 2004， 3-4 percent in 2009， and 1 percent in 2012.

Most worrisome for the team were red trucks carrying huge rocks away from the depths of a landmark desert peak named Hawk Mountain by researchers， who discovered a concentration of some 30 nests there， half home to gold eagles. Raptors construct big nests far away from each other due to their territorial and aggressive behavior. Three gold eagle nests within 1，000 square kilometers is normally a lot. However， at Hawk Mountain， 18 big nests were found on a single cliff – an extremely valuable environment for study.

However， the mountain is desirable for miners as well. Researchers found only one quarry at the foot of the mountain in 2011， but today it is encircled by quarries， both big and small. All raptors have left， leaving only empty nests.

Learning through Rescue

Zhou Haixiang works for Shenyang University of Science and Engineering in China’s northeastern Liaoning Province. During his spare time， he manages a nongovernmental center for raptor protection. In April 2013， volunteers from Fushun， a neighbor of Shenyang， saved 11 young Eurasian eagle-owls from a local quarry and sent them to Zhou. Six months later， they were released back into the wild.

It’s difficult to care for baby owls. “We have to train them to catch and feed on mice，” Zhou explains. “We dare not feed them dead mice， which could be unhealthy. Every day we have to feed them five kilograms of live mice. Wild training requires a big open space like an empty warehouse. But where could we find one？”

Luckily， a businessman offered an unused workshop. A volunteer even offered his equestrian training ground. Many citizens provided live mice.

Compared to Zhou Haixiang’s organization， Beijing Raptor Rescue Center is a much better equipped NGO. Jointly established in December 2001 by Beijing Normal University， Beijing Nature Reserve Administration for Wild Animals， and the International Fund for Animal Welfare（IFAW）， the center specializes in treatment， nursing and rehabilitation training of injured and sick raptors as well as those confiscated by law enforcement. They are released into nature when they’re ready.

Since its founding， the center has treated and saved over 3，600 raptors across 33 species found in Beijing alone， 55 percent of which have been released.

The center’s staff believes that love is not enough to save the birds. Their survival requires joint efforts， cutting-edge skill and technology， scientific research， and regulated management. As soon as a raptor arrives at the center， it must receive a comprehensive but quick and quiet examination. The entire rescue process needs strict rules. Every procedure needs to be documented from arrival to treatment， daily progress， and release.

Many people have shown great concern for the protection of China’s raptors， yet more comprehensive， objective statistics are still needed. Today， we only have a few geographically-limited investigations. Raptors need more， better habitats and space to thrive.