The Liaoning Snake Island-Laotie Mountain National Nature Reserve achieved a milestone with 11,175 raptors recorded in a single day during its autumn monitoring on Monday. This unprecedented number marks the first instance in the Chinese mainland where over 10,000 raptors have been sighted in one day during autumn surveillance.
Located in the Lyushunkou District of Dalian City, Liaoning Province, the reserve serves as a crucial node on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Raptors are the most prevalent among the migratory birds passing through this region, emphasizing the area's significance for bird migration.
\"The reserve began raptor monitoring in 2018, averaging over 60,000 raptors monitored every autumn,\" said Wang Xiaoping, deputy director of the reserve's administration. \"Last autumn, we recorded a total of 85,567 raptors. As of September 23 this year, we have already documented 43,449 migratory raptors. Monitoring the changes in raptor populations is crucial for assessing the ecological health of a region.\"
The Snake Island-Laotie Mountain biosphere reserve, recognized as a key site for migratory birds along the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf coast, was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List this July. This designation highlights the reserve's global importance in bird conservation and the preservation of migratory pathways.
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Record number of raptors sighted in NE China's nature reserve
cgtn.com
