Red Mandarin Duck Group ‘Visiting’ Hongyuan Qugu River – It’s Lively!”,
In recent years, with the gradual improvement of the ecological environment, more and more migratory birds have chosen to breed and raise offspring in the Aba Tibetan-Qinghai Plateau in northwestern Sichuan, China. In March, large flocks of Sichuan mandarin ducks arrived in Qugu River, Kongdrepo, to breed and raise offspring.
At an altitude of 3500 meters in the northwestern Sichuan region, Kongdrepo, after the snow, the clear duck calls constantly emanate from the water surface. Large flocks of Sichuan mandarin ducks play and forage on the water surface, circling in the air, which is spectacular, forming a beautiful ecological painting.
Raohe, a villager from Xihala Village in Kongdrepo, said that the climate is now warming up. The Tibetan proverb says that when flocks of birds fly with eagles, when it is freezing, birds migrate south. This is when migratory birds return. He has grown up on the banks of the Qugu River since childhood, and now he is 60 years old. There were not many birds in the past, and there were guns, which hunted black-necked cranes and swans, and their numbers decreased significantly. Now the country advocates for the protection of wildlife, prohibits hunting, and strengthens environmental protection. In the past two years, the number has become more and more, and the species have become more diverse. We can see black-necked cranes and swans, at least two or three at a time, in the area around Qugu Bay. The country is working hard to protect the environment, and the herdsmen are actively responding and caring for the environment, and the number of bird and animal species is also increasing.
It is reported that Sichuan mandarin ducks are a national Level I protected animal, which means that they are protected by the country for their important ecological, scientific, and social value. They are migratory birds with high requirements for their survival environment. They were listed in China's list of terrestrial wildlife in 2000 and listed as an endangered species in the Red List of the World Conservation Union in 2012. Since the beginning of February, Sichuan mandarin ducks have arrived in large groups from the Guizhou Plateau and the Sichuan Basin’s hilly and plain regions. Currently, there are about 300, and by late March and early April, more than 1,000 Sichuan mandarin ducks will distribute and breed in the entire Kongdrepo Qugu River area. With seasonal changes, most Sichuan mandarin ducks will return to their original breeding grounds in late October and early November, and a small number of Sichuan mandarin ducks will remain near the Qugu River. Therefore, you can see Sichuan mandarin ducks in Kongdrepo in both late winter and summer.
Yang Gujian, a technical staff member of grassland and wetland resource management of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Kongdrepo County, said that in recent years, under the high attention of the county party committee and county government, the relevant departments have also increased the publicity efforts for ecological protection, and have increased the crackdown on illegal hunting of wildlife, enhancing the awareness of local herdsmen about protecting wildlife. Now the number of wildlife is also increasing year by year, making our ecological environment better and better.
In recent years, such as black-necked cranes and Sichuan mandarin ducks, which require high natural ecological requirements, have increasingly “visited” Kongdrepo. The Forestry and Grassland Bureau of the county said that it will strengthen the protection measures to allow Sichuan mandarin ducks and other wild birds to breed and raise offspring freely in the Qugu River area of Kongdrepo.
