Large bird found starved and weak due to smog in central China

A large bird was found lying in a farm on January 3, 2017, in central China’s Henan, apparently too weak to fly.

When villager Wang saw the bird, it struggled to fly as Wang attempted to approach but soon hit the ground again. "I thought that the bird got injured and took it home to take care of it," Wang said. He tried to feed the bird with corns, bread, and meat but the bird refused to eat.  The bird was later sent the Henan Wildlife Rescue Center, where it was identified as an upland buzzard, a second-class state protected species. 

The upland buzzards usually feed on small mammals, birds, and insects. However, this fallen one struggled to prey and has been starving due to low visibility caused by the continuous smog. Henan Wildlife Rescue Center will take care of the bird and release it once it fully recovers.