Thursday is World Wildlife Day, which was created to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild flora and fauna. At present, a number of rare and endangered species such as the South China tiger, the Chinese white dolphin (sousa chinensis), Chinese crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus), and firmiana danxiaensis, are well preserved in Guangdong. 

Residents can observe these rare birds and insects in parks and wetlands in downtown Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

South China tiger twins (Photo: Guangdong Forestry)

Protecting wildlife: Guangdong in action

The province has made consistent efforts to protect wild animals and their habitats, and boost the in-situ and ex-situ conservation of wild plants. 

In 2021, more than 3,600 infrared cameras were set up in most nature reserves in Guangdong for monitoring wildlife. Many rare and endangered species such as Chinese pangolin, mainland serow and leopard cat were captured and photographed, which provide abundant data for the assessment and dynamic analysis of biodiversity.

During the 2021 migration season, Guangdong ushered in a plenty of rare birds, including black-faced spoonbill, Chinese merganser, northern lapwing, Baikal teal and spoon-billed sandpiper.

According to the latest statistics, Guangdong has recorded 1,018 species of terrestrial vertebrate wild animals and 6,658 species of higher wild plants. 

WeChat mini program of key protected animals launched

China Wildlife Conservation Association recently launched a interesting WeChat mini program—"List of National Key Protected Wildlife", which can popularize the characteristics, living habits and distribution of endangered animals to young people via vivid pictures and concise words.

The program currently only offer Chinese contents and a tiny proportion of English, so it is also a good platform for learning Chinese.

At present, the program is collecting pictures of reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and other protected animals from the public. You are welcome to share the pictures of rare animals you have taken.

Contact: chinabird_s@126.com.

Author: Ariel, Tonny (intern)

Editor: Wing, Olivia, Monica, Will, Jerry