A bird that once numbered in the millions in China has been hunted as a delicacy and is now endangered, with little done to protect its numbers, a new report has found.
A bird that once numbered in the millions in China has been hunted as a delicacy and is now endangered, with little done to protect its numbers, a new report has found.
Photo: Baidu
The yellow-breasted bunting has fared less fortunately compared to other high-profile endangered species such as giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys, the study said.
The level of threat against the buntings, also known as “rice birds” because they often live in rice fields, has risen from of “least concern” to “endangered” in less than thirty years.
The China Nature Observation Report released on Monday catalogued 1,085 endangered species in China between 2000 and 2015.
The report noted that extinctions of super-abundant species with very large ranges are rare. But the Chinese appetite for the yellow-breasted bunting is strong. It was noted that the birds are traditionally caught in mist nets along their migratory path, despite food trade in the species being outlawed in China in 1997.
Photo: Baidu
The research showed that while protection for endangered species such as giant pandas has improved the yellow-breasted buntings continue to face predatory threats from humans.
The birds, which migrate from Europe to China during the winter months, are often hunted during this period. The buntings are a delicacy in southern China where they are believed to boost sexual vitality and clear the body of toxins. One bird can sell for up to 80 yuan.
Photo: Timedg
A study in the journal Conservation Biology found that between 1980 and 2013, the population of the birds fell by almost 90 per cent.
The magnitude and speed of the decline is unprecedented among birds with a comparable range size, with the exception of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), which went extinct in 1914 due to industrial-scale hunting.
Photo: Baidu
The newly released report also indicated that many of China’s endangered species are in “hot spots” around the country, but only 3.15 per cent of these areas and habitats were protected for wildlife.
For the Bohai Gulf area of the Yellow Sea, only about one per cent is protected.
“This area is densely populated with people and the remaining natural habitat area is small in size and broken,” an official at the Shanshui Conservation Centre told the news website Thepaper.cn. “There are many significant beaches, intertidal zones … that are used as habitats for these endangered species, mainly migratory birds. Although the cost of land is high, it is still worth it to give these birds some breathing space.”
Maping for the yellow-breasted bunting Photo:Baidu
The bird is not the only species in danger from Chinese appetites. Other animals that could be saved if taken off of menus include pangolins, monitor lizards, and snub-nosed monkeys.
The case of shark fin soup might give some hope for such species. After government crackdowns and years of campaigning by animal rights groups, the soup is starting to go out of style among China’s youth. Traders in Guangzhou—again, mainland China’s main trading center for the fins—told WildAid in December 2013 that business had been shrinking.
But it remains to be seen whether yellow-breasted buntings can catch a similar break before it’s too late.
