Four Chinese mergansers, a nationally protected species, were spotted in a national wetland park in Hengyang, Hunan province, according to the local forestry department. Only about 1,000 Chinese mergansers remain in the world today; they are a relic of the third ice age, going back 10 million years. The breed has also been included on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

Located at the junction of two bird migration corridors, the Hengyang wetland park has previously reported spotting 85 different bird species, of which three are listed as nearly threatened and nine are second-class protected species.