Bird protector takes wing to continue family tradition

Energy and emotion

In 1997, Xu Jianfeng, Xu Xiujuan's younger brother, resigned from his job at a large State-owned factory in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, and moved to the Zhalong reserve to follow in his sister's footsteps.

"My sister's death left me with great sorrow, as well as responsibility and pressures," said Xu Jianfeng, who was the father of Xu Zhuo, at the time.

"I want to succeed in her undertaking, which is also my family's undertaking."

After years of hard work, he became an expert in captive breeding and field rescue. Like his father and sister, Xu Jianfeng put all his energy and emotion into his work.

However, in April 2014, tragedy hit the family once again, when he was killed in a motorcycle accident.

He had been working in the wetland for two days, protecting a crane chick. As he rode home exhausted, his motorbike left the road and ended up in a ditch.

"We successfully bred more than 100 red-crowned cranes under his leadership, and he treated every one of them like his own child," said Gao Yanzhong, a researcher and former colleague of Xu Jianfeng.