[Explanation] At noon on April 22, at the office of Shishou Elk National Nature Reserve in Hubei, engineer Yang Tao imported photos of elk into his office computer to count the population of this unique wild animal in China.
Since 2011, Yang Tao has been monitoring elk here for 10 years.
[Explanation] The elk is a national first-class protected animal. According to historical records, Chinese and British scientists have visited the hometown of elk and selected 23,000 mu wetlands in Shishou Swan Island as the first elk reintroduction base.
The Shishou Elk Reserve was established in November 1991. Its main task is to restore the wild population in the native place of the elk and protect the wetland ecological environment on which it depends.
[Explanation] In 1993, scientists introduced 94 elk from Beijing Nanhaizi Milu Garden to Swan Island, and the elk population in Shishou Nature Reserve began to increase.
Yang Tao's main job is to regularly monitor the living conditions of the elk, including moulting, dehorning, calving, defecation, etc., as well as watching the daily activities of the elk every day.
[Concurrent] Yang Tao, Engineer, Shishou Elk National Nature Reserve, Hubei
Generally, the dynamic monitoring of elk is carried out twice a year, mainly to know the number of elk, then its male to female ratio, how many male deer there are, how many female deer there are, and then its age structure, how many adults, sub How many adults there are, and then count its birth rate, its death rate, and its growth rate every year.
[Explanation] April is the calving period of the female deer. In order to ensure the nutrition of the female deer, Yang Tao and his colleagues usually plant good pastures in the emergency feed base in the reserve during the winter of the previous year to ensure food. adequate.
During the female deer's calving period, they will strengthen monitoring, and if they find that the female deer is difficult to give birth or the newborn deer is dead, they will deal with it in time.
[Concurrent] Yang Tao, Engineer, Shishou Elk National Nature Reserve, Hubei
The dead deer must be dragged out for dissection. After dissection, find out what caused the death in time. If it is due to an infectious disease (death), then measures to block the source of the disease must be taken in time.
[Explanation] Shishou Elk Sanctuary has fertile land and abundant water plants. Elk relies entirely on wild plants for food and live freely.
Therefore, in addition to monitoring the elk, the water environment in the reserve, such as water quality and water level, are also Yang Tao's monitoring "targets."
[Concurrent] Yang Tao, Engineer, Shishou Elk National Nature Reserve, Hubei
The elk is mainly a swamp animal, water is still more important to it, (especially) water quality, mainly to monitor the health of the drinking water, and then the surface water level (condition), such as last year (flood season) the water level was too high, just Will affect its activity space.
[Explanation] There are nearly 2,000 elk in the Shishou Elk Reserve. As the population of elk is currently relatively large, the monitoring is mainly carried out by drones, with the use of telescopes, telephoto cameras, monoculars and other equipment. , And combined with the remote high-definition camera set up in the reserve for monitoring.
[Explanation] Yang Tao told reporters that the monitoring work is repeated every day, which makes people feel a little boring, but the 10 years of getting along with the elk have made him have a deep relationship with these animals.
[Concurrent] Yang Tao, Engineer, Shishou Elk National Nature Reserve, Hubei
Maybe after long-term monitoring, you can continue to learn about them (elk), then you will have a more wanting to understand them (idea), further exploration (go on), and more hope through us. Human efforts have allowed these elk to live better.
[Explanation] The good ecological environment of Swan Island provides a living space for the breeding and habitation of elk, and the elk has also become a strong evidence of the local "adhering to ecological priority and promoting the protection of the Yangtze River".
Today, Shishou Elk Sanctuary has established four wild populations of Yangpotan in Jiangbei, Tuerzhou and Sanheyuan in Jiangnan, and Dongting Lake in Hunan, making it the largest wild elk population in the world.
[Concurrent] Cai Jiaqi, Chief of Natural Education Section of Shishou Elk National Nature Reserve, Hubei
(Right) The success of elk protection is firstly reflected in the success of biodiversity protection, and the second is in the process of ecological civilization construction, including the continuous advancement of the protection of the Yangtze River. It should be said that it (elk) is a very successful case. It also plays a flagship role in the protection of the entire biodiversity.
Dong Xiaobin Zhou Xingliang reports from Hubei Shishou
Editor in charge: [Wang Kai]