From the south of Caiyun to the Jingxi forest farm, from the East African grassland to the Amazon rainforest... Chen Yanzhi, 15, this year, has visited many places at home and abroad to explore wildlife.
Currently, she has watched more than 1,500 birds. She is one of the "Yu Yan Ambassadors" of the "Beijing Swift Protection Plan". She once explained the migration path of Yu Yan and shared Yu Yan's protection ideas for a group of entrepreneurs including Pan Shiyi.
Today, she launched the "Animals Around Us" project, hoping to capture the magical wild animals hidden in the hidden corners through infrared cameras, influencing more people to think about the relationship between cities and wild animals.
She also summarized some "snapping experience", "In the mountains, there will be a lot of wild boars and roe deer, and there are also leopard cats, but there are fewer; there are more leopard cats in Yeyahu and Miyun Reservoir; there are especially many magpies in Orson, 80% of the photos The images are all magpies, as are weasel and hedgehog."
Every time when collecting camera data, Chen Yanzhi is like removing a doll's "blind box", "You never know what unexpected magical animals are in the opened data card."
Chen Yanzhi is looking at the mobile phone map, looking for infrared camera monitoring points. Beijing News reporter Li Kaixiang
Finding animal roads in the city is not easy
Every time he looks for Beast Road, Chen Yanzhi will imagine himself as a little beast.
She can be a slow-moving hedgehog, a smart and lively Mongolian rabbit, or a flashing little yellow ferret, "In some dense woods, there are shrubs under the forest. But animals don't like to wear bushes, walk Tired, they usually choose some trails that have been stepped on by other animals." Chen Yan called such trails beast roads.
Animal footprints, feces, and traces of activity all help her locate the animal road. Sometimes, looking around, the jungle is almost full of dense shrubs, and there are no sparse places to fall. But Chen Yanzhi can always "open up" a narrow beast road hidden under the leaves in the bushes. "If I were an animal, I would think this is a better way to walk. Then I found that some animals did go here. Way."
Chen Yanzhi is 15 years old and is a junior third student in Beijing. At the end of April this year, she launched the "Animals Around Us" project, which was fund-raising to purchase infrared cameras, placed around beast roads in the suburbs of Beijing, and tied to trees, "to record and observe these wild animals, borrow these images, intuitive Tell people: Beijing still has many wild animals."
She expects more urban residents to view wildlife as neighbors.
Chen Yanzhi (right), Guan Xiangyu (left), and "Xiaohu" (middle) are watching images exported by infrared cameras. Beijing News reporter Li Kaixiang
Since May 30, Chen Yanzhi has installed 14 infrared cameras in Beijing West Forest Farm, Olympic Forest Park, Yeya Lake and Phoenix Ridge, covering natural landscapes such as woodlands, urban parks, plains, wetlands and mountains. So far, the "Animals Around Us" project has captured 12 species of beasts and 13 species of birds including hedgehogs, Siberian robes, leopard cats, wild boars, yellow ferrets, and pheasants.
For Chen Yanzhi, searching for beast roads and photographing beasts in the city is not easy. The bushes in the urban area are relatively sparse compared to those in the suburbs. "Take the Orson Park as an example. In many places, there are no plants on the ground and all are dry soil. Animals can choose many paths to walk. Therefore, setting up a camera is largely a matter of luck. Sometimes, other than the magpie, no other animals were photographed."
At the same time, as a city park, Orson’s daily human footprints are all over the place, covering the tracks of animals. “The animal road is very inconspicuous.” Infrared cameras are often disturbed by human factors. “I put a camera on Xinglin before. There are not many pictures of apricot-eating animals, but there are more than 900 different apricot pickers." When watching the film, Chen Yanzhi couldn't help crying.
Blowing vegetation, a sudden beam of sunlight, intruding beasts, and tourists passing by can all trigger infrared cameras to shoot. The higher the trigger frequency, the faster the power consumption. When not triggered, the camera is in "standby" state.
"Under normal circumstances, an infrared camera can last for at least 2 months." Zhang Yi, a staff member of the "City Biodiversity Restoration Project" of the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center, who provided Chen Yanzhi with on-site technical guidance for infrared cameras, is also known as infrared camera. The infrared trigger camera works by receiving a thermal infrared intensity change trigger switch. "So most snakes and lizards whose body temperature is similar to the ambient temperature will not trigger the infrared camera."
Chen Yanzhi said that the shooting mode of the infrared camera can be set to full photo, full video or photo plus video. "Fast-moving animals like yellow ferrets often fail to capture their full picture in camera mode." She said that the data collected is often a long flash of light. Therefore, it should be set according to the difference of frequent infested animals, and the corresponding adjustment can be made after each time the data is viewed.
She said that the project is still in the process of continuous "trial and error".
Chen Yanzhi is looking at the infrared camera. Beijing News reporter Li Kaixiang
At night, Orson is home to animals
As far as Chen Yan is concerned, although the wildlife monitoring work of Orson Park is not going well in the suburbs, she still tirelessly walked through this "magic space" covering 680 hectares with 95.61% green coverage. Walking into Orson, it seemed to push open the door between wild animals and people. Chen Yanzhi couldn't resist.
Chen Yanzhi said that the trajectories of humans and animals interweave and rub shoulders in Orson. During the day, this is the home of people. People pass by here, photographing lotus flowers and watching the scenery here. At night, hedgehogs, yellow ferrets, stray cats and dogs shuttle here. "In three weeks, frequent visitor yellow ferrets have appeared here eight times. Some wild animals still live in our cities silently and are closely related to our living space."
At 15:00 on July 7, the outdoor temperature in Beijing reached 34 degrees Celsius. Chen Yanzhi, wearing a dark blue sunhat, once again stepped into this "magic space", this is her third time to come to collect infrared camera data.
This time, she will collect data from 5 infrared cameras in Orson South Park. She was also accompanied by one of the project volunteers, the third grade student of the same school, "Xiaohu" classmate, and Guan Xiangyu, the executive director of the "Bird Master" China Bird Watching Society who donated 3 infrared cameras for the project.
While checking the red dot on the mobile phone map, one of Chen Yan led the way in front, sometimes stopping to look east and west, like the animals under the forest, which road he was planning to take away, "This is too big, it is easy to get lost."
Image screen exported by infrared camera. Beijing News reporter Li Kaixiang
Guan Xiangyu, a 10-year-old birdwatcher, is a regular visitor to Orson Park. He often comes here to watch birds, but he can’t find all 5 anchor points without looking at the map. Approaching the shore of a certain water, Guan Xiangyu suddenly uttered, "Look! There are a few small ones." As soon as the words fell, Chen Yanzhi quickly raised the telescope hanging around his neck.
Guan Xiangyu mentioned that there are more than 510 species of birds currently recorded in Beijing. "The frequency of new bird discoveries in Beijing is also increasing. The main reason is that there are more bird watchers than before. With the environment The improvement also has a certain relationship."
"Little apprentice" Chen Yanzhi also claimed to be a "bird lunatic". In January 2017, her parents took her to Tanzania to watch animals in eastern Africa. They were tired of seeing lions, antelopes, giraffes and other animals. A bird watching teacher in the group led them Looking at all kinds of flying creatures, "Sunbird, Secretary Bird, Egyptian Goose..." Chen Yanzhi said, that trip to Africa changed her way for the next few years, even for life. She is almost obsessed with bird watching.
In the 2018 holiday, Chen Yanzhi flew to Ecuador and the Amazon rainforest in South America to watch birds. From around Beijing to all over the world, Chen Yanzhi has seen more than 1,500 kinds of birds. "The most visited place in China is Yunnan." Chen Yanzhi said that Caiyunzhinan, which owns two-thirds of China's bird species, had the honour to go five times.
In June 2019, as one of the "Yuyan Ambassadors" of the "Beijing Swift Protection Plan", Chen Yanzhi told Yu Yan's migration path and shared Swift's protection ideas for a group of entrepreneurs, including Pan Shiyi.
One summer, Chen Yanzhi, who was obsessed with the appearance of wild birds, was bitten by mosquitoes for more than 100 bags, so she gave herself the nickname "little mosquito". "At that time, they thought that they should not bite when they saw me like this. I got it, but I was bitten badly." On the day of the interview (July 7th), Chen Yanzhi was wearing shorts and looked very abnormal when collecting data. After checking the last camera, she reacted. More than 10 packets of mosquitoes had been stung on her legs and arms.
"Among wild animals, is it your favorite bird?" The reporter asked Chen Yanzhi.
Chen Yanzhi thought about it and grinned: "I like animals."
Chen Yanzhi is removing the screws on the infrared camera to open the front cover and remove the SD card. Beijing News reporter Li Kaixiang
Check the camera memory card if you open the "blind box"
Finally arriving at the camera point by the "lotus pond", Chen Yanzhi carrying her "Little Ding-Dong Pocket" and came under a tree. "Little Tinker Bell Pocket" is a "intimate companion" with infrared cameras such as pliers, rice rulers, pruning shears, shovel, plastic tube (for collecting specimens), camera SD card box, disposable lead blockade, No. 5 battery, wire, etc. .
An infrared camera is fixed in a secret corner by wire. The top of the fuselage is affixed with a black and white label of "Scientific research equipment, with positioning inside".
Chen Yanzhi took out a pair of pliers and cut off the wire lead seal simply and cleanly, and then screwed the two screws on the boot with a screwdriver to take out the SD memory card. Guan Xiangyu carried a laptop computer and helped copy the data on the SD card to the computer. "After the general copy, the card will be inserted back."
After viewing the images, it was discovered that in the past two and a half weeks, wild cats, hedgehogs, and weasel had passed the path in front of this camera at night. However, Chen Yanzhi still has some disappointments. According to her, generally speaking, the monitoring points near the water will "reap a lot". "I have photographed animals such as impala, wild boar, and leopard cats in Yeyahu. Leopard cats prefer water. Catch fish to eat."
To Chen Yanzhi's surprise, the power of these cameras was basically not consumed in two and a half weeks. At the "Taolin" monitoring point, after Chen Yanzhi checked the data, she decided to move the position of the infrared camera. "The captured images show that animals pass through the tree in front more frequently, and the shooting distance at that position will also be closer. "
The bandage of the infrared camera has been stuck with peach glue on the trunk. After Chen Yanzhi pinched off the wire and the disposable wire lead, he pulled it a few times and finally removed the camera.
She walked a few steps forward, came to another tree she selected, and tied the camera half to the branch. After debugging several times, fixed the camera with wire, confirmed that the SD card had been put back into the body, and then buckled Tighten the front cover and put on a new lead seal.
Chen Yanzhi's "Ding Dong Small Pocket"-infrared camera "mate" tool. Beijing News reporter Li Kaixiang photo
Before leaving this monitoring point, Chen Yanzhi adjusted the original "1 photo plus 10 seconds video" mode to "3 continuous shooting plus 10 seconds video". This means that some animals that travel faster can be more easily caught. In addition, she set the trigger time period from 6:30 pm to 6:30 am, "In addition to magpies, most animals still prefer activities in the evening and morning and evening. Similar to birds, beasts also like to move in the morning and evening. The temperature is more suitable for animals."
Chen Yanzhi explained that the time for different animal activities is not the same, "The leopard cat prefers activities before sunrise, from 2 am to 4 am. The roe deer and wild boar will be later, six or seven. Therefore, the follow-up will be adjusted according to the different animals that appear. Trigger time."
Guan Xiangyu said that in terms of investigating beasts, infrared cameras are a very important research tool.
Chen Yanzhi's angle after debugging the mobile infrared camera. Beijing News reporter Li Kaixiang
People should be happy to coexist with wild animals
Of the 14 infrared cameras currently owned by the “Animals Around Us” project, 3 are from fundraising and self-purchase, 9 are donated and borrowed by animal protection professionals, and 2 are supported by the private environmental protection organization Shanshui Nature Protection Center. Chen Yanzhi is one of the volunteers of Shanshui Nature Conservation Center.
"'Shanshui' handed over the two infrared cameras placed in the South Park of Orson Park to Yan Zhi's custody. We provided her with technical support, and she also helped us collect and organize the data." According to Zhang Yi, 9 in 2019 In December, Beijing Natural Resources and Landscaping Bureau led the Beijing Biodiversity Restoration Demonstration and Public Education Project-"Natural Beijing" officially launched.
The project is dedicated to improving the habitat of wild animals and providing a model for the restoration of Beijing's urban biodiversity. According to Zhang Fang, Jingxi Forest Farm, Orson Park and Yeya Lake are all demonstration sites selected by "Natural Beijing". Among them, the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center divides the North and South Parks of Orson Park into 20 "grids" of equal area. It is planned to place two infrared cameras in each grid to monitor the density of wild animals and "find out the green land in Beijing." Is there a greater possibility for the coexistence of humans and wild animals."
Zhang Yun said that the monitoring data of urban wild animals' infrared cameras can provide important reference value for urban planning and garden construction. "We look forward to seeing that in the future, people will not tolerate the existence of these adjacent wild animals, but are happy to coexist. . Both humans and wild animals can safely move on green spaces without conflicts. Animals will not attack people, and people will not harm animals. It is a harmonious and coexisting relationship."
Orson Park: June 16, 21:16, weasel; June 22, 23 o'clock, hedgehog, stray cat; July 4, 7 o'clock, Mongolian rabbit; Jingxi Forest Farm: June 21 , 18:54, Siberian roe deer; June 27, 13:46, impala; wild duck lake: June 29, 2:25, three leopard cats.
The above data is just the tip of the iceberg in Chen Yan's team database. It takes a lot of time to set up the camera and collect data. The later data sorting is a "big project" that consumes a lot of effort. However, Chen Yanzhi said that when he sees many moments of wild animals, the joy of energy will ease all other difficulties. Too.
The 15-year-old girl with short hair said that Beijing was once a "feng shui treasure" where all kinds of beasts prospered. Starting from the west of Beijing, the Yanshan Mountains connected to Taihang Mountains and could stretch to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Beijing has five major river systems: Yongding River, Chaobai River, Bei Canal, Juma River and Ji Canal.
At the end of June, the leopard cat photographed at Yeya Lake surprised Chen Yan. "The captured picture is particularly good. It is a mother leopard cat with two babies."
Chen Yanzhi once mentioned that a leopard cat may have a particularly big reaction to cat feces, so Chen Yan's team put a cat litter in front of the camera. "The two babies of leopard cats have been rubbing on the cat feces. Then the pig badger also came. Once an animal was photographed on the road where the animal had to drink water, like a raccoon dog. After asking an animal expert, it was identified as a dog badger."
She said that in the rapid development of the city, many amazing wild animals are still surviving in "hidden corners".
She said that she was more pleased that she could become one of the recorders.
Beijing News reporter Wu Linshu