Central China reserve becomes home to 71 national key protected bird species (3)

Photo shows a speckled piculet at the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve in central China's Henan province. (Photo/Dongzhai National Nature Reserve)

The number of national key protected bird species at the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve in central China's Henan province has reached 71, according to the latest edition of the list of major protected wild animals in China.

Among them, eight are first-class protected species and 63 are second-class protected species, the list jointly released by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs revealed.

Twenty-two bird species from the nature reserve have been newly added to the list of birds under national protection, including the Reeves's pheasant, a bird endemic to China, which has been upgraded from a second-class protected species to a first-class protected species, and the Baer's Pochard and Glossy Ibis, which have been placed on the list of first-class protected species.

According to research, the second of its kind, jointly carried out by Beijing Normal University, Beijing Forestry University and Henan Normal University in 2017, there were 329 species of birds in the nature reserve, an increase of 96 from the number observed in the first research.

Dongzhai National Nature Reserve is a vital artificial breeding habitat for the Reeves's pheasant and the crested ibis, an endangered bird once thought to be extinct.

According to a staff member, different levels of protection also means that the law has different punishments for illegal activities such as poaching, smuggling, and trafficking of birds under different classes of protection, which helps to better protect them.