China News Service, Chongqing, November 14 (Liang Qinqing) November is Chongqing’s Wildlife Protection Publicity Month. The launch ceremony of "2026 Chongqing Wildlife Protection Publicity Month and Chongqing Wetland Protection Publicity Week" was held on the 14th at Chongqing Garden Expo Park. The Chongqing Forestry Bureau revealed at the event that Chongqing has deployed six municipal-level terrestrial wildlife shelter and rescue agencies, and nearly 200 birds have been rescued and released in the city since this year.
Chongqing is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and in the heart of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, which is a key area for bird distribution. There are more than 800 species of terrestrial wild vertebrates distributed in Chongqing, and there are 548 species of birds, including more than 370 species of migratory birds. Among the 124 species of nationally protected terrestrial wild animals distributed in Chongqing, there are 116 species of birds.
The picture shows the event site, where raptors that meet rescue standards are released into the blue sky. Photo courtesy of Chongqing Forestry Bureau
In recent years, Chongqing has continued to promote projects such as wetland ecological restoration, strengthened the protection and management of key areas such as bird habitats and migration areas, delineated the first nine migratory bird migration channels in Chongqing, and clarified bird hunting areas and hunting periods.
In accordance with the unified arrangements of the state, Chongqing continues to promote special actions for bird protection, delineating 10,241 responsibility grids around key periods and areas of bird migration, and employing 12,018 patrol personnel, with a total of more than 680,000 patrols. During the special operation, Chongqing paid close attention to key periods such as bird migration, breeding, and overwintering periods, and focused on key places such as flower and bird markets and bazaars. The public security, forestry, market supervision, and Internet information departments carried out "joint prevention, joint investigation, and joint attack" and investigated 209 wildlife cases, including 108 criminal cases involving birds.
In order to accurately grasp the city's dynamic changes in bird populations, activity patterns and threatening factors, the Chongqing Forestry Bureau has promoted regular monitoring of birds and synchronous monitoring of overwintering waterbirds in an orderly manner. The Chinese merganser, a national first-level protected wild animal, has overwintered in the Jiangjin section of the Qihe River Basin for 15 consecutive years. Birds such as black storks, blue-headed pochards, and colorful ibises have overwintered stably in Chongqing.
At the event site, five birds of prey, including one peregrine falcon and four crested eagles, returned to the sky after professional rescue and medical evaluation.
He Bo, a veterinarian at Chongqing Zoo, said that Chongqing is known as the "City of Eagles" with excellent ecological environment and high forest coverage. There are many ecological corridors for migratory birds in the territory, and a batch of birds are rescued every year. Some birds are injured due to various factors during migration. After being discovered by relevant units, they will be sent to wildlife shelter and rescue agencies. The entire rescue cycle lasts about half a year. In the early stage, the injured area is inspected and treated, and in the mid-term, the mental state and recovery are observed. In the later stage, the animal is evaluated to meet the release standards before being released into the wild.
The relevant person in charge of the Chongqing Forestry Bureau stated that they will continue to strengthen the management of wildlife and nature reserves, promote habitat protection and restoration projects, continue to improve the habitat of wild animals, and continue to carry out resource surveys and monitoring, improve the monitoring network, and improve the level of refined, scientific, and intelligent biodiversity protection. (over)
