Jilin charts a course toward greener future (2)

More wild animals

Forest and mountain areas in the eastern part of Jilin have long been the habitat for Siberian tigers and Amur leopards, and a monitoring center has been established covering 500 square meters to keep track of the animals.

In recent years, wild Siberian tigers and Amur leopards have been sighted frequently in the region thanks to its improving natural environment.

By the end of July, scientists had recorded at least 27 wild Siberian tigers and 42 Amur leopards in mountainous areas of Jilin.

The Hunchun and Wangqing areas are especially favored habitats of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards.

In October last year, a video clip from the monitoring center at Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park showed a female tiger and her four cubs in Hunchun.

Another clip from 2016 showed an adult leopard and two cubs in Hunchun.

In recent years, it was reported that habitats for the two big cats are expanding with some being spotted in the Changbai Mountain area.

Experts said Jilin's efforts in banning hunting, strengthening daily monitoring and protection, establishing natural reserves and stopping commercial logging have been keys in improving the environment for the tigers and leopards.

Jilin established an ecological damage compensation mechanism to make up for local people's losses and to reduce conflict between people and wild animals. Total compensation paid out has reached 1.65 trillion yuan since 2006, according to the Jilin government.

Official statistics show Jilin currently has 42 nature reserves covering 2.61 million hectares of land, and accounting for 13.9 percent of all land of Jilin.

A natural protection corridor which includes regions such as Hunchun, Wangqing, Huangni River, Yanming Lake and Weihu Mountain has been established to protect tigers and leopards in Jilin.

In August 2017, the 14,600-sqkm Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, China's second national park after the Sanjiangyuan on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, was established. The park, with its majority located in Jilin, will be a stable habitat for the two endangered big cats, according to experts.

Jilin also carried out projects to provide a better environment for other wild animals. Official figures show there are 445 different types of land animals in Jilin. It is home to rare birds such as the Chinese mergansers and snow cranes.

The Chinese merganser, which normally nests in trees near rivers, is considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The bird faces threats from fishing, vegetation destruction, habitat fragmentation and water pollution. In Jilin, about 190 pairs of Chinese mergansers have been spotted this year, accounting for 9.5 percent of the total in the world.

Snow cranes, also known as Siberian cranes, are rated as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. Official statistics show that a total of 3,840 snow cranes were observed in Jilin's Momoge National Nature Reserve in 2015, accounting for 90 percent of their total in the world.