(CN) Xuan'en: paradise for white storks

[Guest guest]

by SONG WEN 06/29/2001

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/ China Daily

 

The white stork (Cisomia cicomia) is on the State first-level

protection list in China. Every March until September, some white storks

come to the western mountains of Central China's Hubei Province to nest and

breed.

To better protect them, Xuan'en County started monitoring their

population and set up the White Stork Nature Reserve last year.

 

According to local people, about 60 white storks first came to Xiaoxi

Village in the spring of 1982. Their numbers increased each year and their

nesting grounds widened to six towns. Engineer Peng Zongling, director of

the Wildlife Protection Station under the Xuan'en Forestry Bureau, said

their surveys have found nearly 10,000 white storks in the county.

 

At the Xiaoxi Village, 78-year old Li Mingdou still remembers clearly

the white birds first settling in a dense forest near his house. The birds

loved to stay together, catching small fish and loach in the rice paddy

fields.

 

When the birds came back in the spring of 1983, they moved the nests

to the trees behind Li's house. As the birds are lovely, no one in the

village catches or hurts them. When some visitors to the village wanted to

catch the birds, villagers stopped them.

 

One, Wang Yuping, said that according to the tradition of the village,

if the white storks build a nest in a farmer's courtyard the family will

have good luck in the coming year. So the villagers all volunteer to protect

the birds.

 

On the other hand, it seems the white storks have drawn other kinds of

big birds to the village. They feed on mice which used to be a serious

problem in the area. As the number of mice reduced, the snakes which had

frightened the farmers also dropped in number.

 

" This might be the result of the food chain, " Li said.

 

Forestry Director of Xuan'en Song Chunlu attributed the increase of

the white storks to the efforts to protect the environment. In the past

decade, forest coverage in the county has risen by 24.9 per cent. This has

offered the white storks a good habitat.