Two Aythya baeris, which are timid by nature, fly with Aythya nyrocas. [Photo by Ye Duo/WeChat account: jhfabu]
Two Aythya baeri – a nationally protected wild animal – were seen at the Dongyang River in Jinhua, Zhejiang province recently by a joint team of the Jindong District Wildlife and Plant Protection Management Station and the Zhejiang Normal University Biodiversity Research Team.
This is the first time that this species has been sighted in Jinhua.
The Aythya baeri is on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and was classified as critically endangered in 2012. Due to overhunting, habitat loss for breeding and wintering, and environmental degradation, the global population of Aythya baeris has sharply decreased in the past 10 years to around 400, earning the species the nickname "panda of birds."
The Aythya baeri is a less reddish brown than the Aythya nyroca, and the white belly extends to the sides of the body. [Photo by Ye Duo/WeChat account: jhfabu]
One of the discoverers, Ye Duo, an associate professor of ecology at the Zhejiang Normal University School of Life Sciences, said that the arrival of the two rare birds suggested that the natural environment in Jinhua is improving.
The section of the Dongyang River where the birds were discovered is a wetland and paddy field ecosystem suitable for swans, geese, and ducks looking to rest and feed. It attracts a large number of raptor predators.
