On April 13th, in Baoqing County, Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province, after a wildlife protection volunteer rescued an injured adult Rough-legged Buzzard, due to local medical conditions, it was urgently sent to Shenyang Raptor rescue center for treatment.

According to Mr. Zhou Hui, the wildlife protection volunteer who first discovered the injured Rough-legged Buzzard, it may have been affected by the windy weather in the recent period, this Rough-legged Buzzard accidentally hit a wire or branch, etc., injured and unable to fly. Upon arriving at the Shenyang Raptor Rescue Center, the staff immediately inspected Rough-legged Buzzard ’s injury and found that its left wing was injured. A 5 cm long area appeared with congestion and swelling. Fortunately, no fracture was found. After the inspection, the Rough-legged Buzzard was taken corresponding treatment measures, fed drugs that promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and its injured area was bandaged.

The Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus), also called the rough-legged hawk, is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and the Palearctic during the breeding season and migrants south for the winter. Rough-legged Buzzard is a national second-level protected animal, and the three northeastern provinces are its main distribution areas. It belongs to the LC level in the latest IUCN Red List.

Volunteer Mr. Zhou Hui said that the current survival situation of raptors and other wild birds in the area is not very optimistic, especially during the migration period of birds, the phenomenon of privately setting up bird nets is very common. These bird nets are widely distributed in the fields. Volunteers have limited strength, and the work of dismantling bird nets has been difficult. In the photos provided by Mr. Zhou Hui, the birds were entangled in the nets and struggled and even died, which was shocking.

In order to strengthen bird protection, volunteers usually carry out joint demolition operations with local natural resources bureaus, public security departments, etc., and at the same time assist government departments in combating illegal trafficking in wild birds. In 2019, Mr. Zhou Hui was appraised as an excellent volunteer by Shenyang Wildlife Conservation Association for his active performance in the spring protecting bird’s movement of Shenyang City.

At present, this Rough-legged Buzzard still does not have the conditions for freeing in the wild, but it can already eat independently, and it may take some time to treat according to observation. At this point, this relief relay operation from Baoqing to Shenyang to rescue the injured Rough-legged Buzzard came to an end, looking forward to successfully releasing the bird in the wild.

(Photo credit: Zhou Hui)

Original Chinese article:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/U3zlImQcgxf1vdPa3_vVvQ

By / Maggie