Over the past 25 years, sustained wildlife conservation efforts have led to the remarkable recovery of multiple rare wild animal species in a nature reserve in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.
Infrared cameras set up in the vast reserve in Zhouzhi County, Xi’an, have recently captured images of wild animals such as snub-nosed monkeys, takins, and musk deer—all under first-class protection in China—foraging and frolicking in their natural habitat.
Notably, for the first time, three of these most protected species were spotted by the same camera, indicating significant growth in their populations since the cameras were first installed in 2013.
“We spotted five or six takins, numerous snub-nosed monkeys appearing intermittently in four to five groups with about 10 in each group, two musk deer, and many wild boars,” said He Yalou, head of a management station at the reserve.
He noted that in previous years, a single camera would capture only one of these first-class protected wild animals or a small number of second-class protected ones.
According to the reserve staff, since the launch of a project 25 years ago to protect the forest ecosystem, there has been a steady increase in the populations of various wild animals, including four first-class protected species and nearly 20 second-class protected ones.
“As the habitats of these animals steadily recover, they are now distributed more widely. Since wild animals may appear in every corner of the forests, we need to enhance management and protection efforts to ensure the safety of wild animal resources in the reserve and promote harmonious coexistence between humans and animals,” said Ding Qiaozhou, head of the resource monitoring and fire prevention division at the reserve.
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Conservation leads to recovery of wildlife in NW China's Shaanxi
cgtn.com
