By the Qiantang River, illegal bird hunting is wildly carried out.
Nearby riverside wild flavor restaurants sell wild birds in large quantities. Bird hunters can make profits of 2000-3000 yuan in half a month.
□ This report by our reporter Hong Huimin
Currently, it's just the time when migratory birds migrate en masse.
At less than 6 o'clock in the morning, on the mudflat of the Qiantang River. When everyone is still sleeping, bird hunters have already placed decoy ducks early and set traps in the wetlands.
In the evening, as it gets dark, bird hunters wait in small grass sheds built with reeds. The decoy ducks "ga ga" call out, tired wild birds are also looking for places to rest. Hearing the calls, in the dim darkness, wild birds mistake them for companions and rush down.
Thus, bird hunters quickly pull the net, and the wild birds become the "prey" that fall into their trap.
But the bird hunters don't rush to collect the nets. In the dead of night, after confirming that no more wild birds will fall into the trap, the bird hunters then take away the bird nets and leave with their prey for profit.
In the past week, the reporter has repeatedly rushed to the banks of the Qiantang River and witnessed this scene continuously played out on the edge of the Qiantang River mudflats.
[Observation] Decoy ducks and bird catching nets spread like wildfire
On November 16th, at 6:32 in the morning, at the Fourth Work Section in Xiaoshan.
Suddenly the temperature dropped, it was raining, cold and damp. Wu Zhihua, a member of the Zhejiang Wild Bird Association, drove with the reporter. After getting off the Jiangdong Bridge and passing through several country lanes, the car turned onto the bridge located at the Fourth Work Section in Xiaoshan.
On the opposite side of the bridge, there were vast wetlands and reed beds on the Qiantang River mudflats. The river surface seemed calm, suddenly "ga ga, ga ga" calls came. On a small patch of mudflat, there were four or five duck-like animals calling out.
Wu Zhihua said nothing. He took out his telescope and carefully observed the ducks in the water: "Judging from the sound or appearance, they should be decoy ducks."
The Zhejiang Agricultural Records recorded that in traditional hunting in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, "decoy ducks" are accomplices of bird hunters. These ducks' calls resemble those of wild ducks, and bird hunters place them inside "traps" to lure wild ducks.
A few minutes later, a person suddenly emerged from the reed bed, wearing a black rubber waterproof suit and boots, pulling out a corner of a net from the pool and began tidying up.
Seeing our car, he immediately stopped what he was doing and hid the net back in the water. He stared at us, we turned the car around and walked towards him.
On one side of the wetland at the Fourth Work Section in Xiaoshan, there appeared 4 bird hunters dressed in the same attire, tidying up in their respective trap pools.
We returned to the cottage by the bridge where there were 3 motorcycles parked within the fence. We quietly waited in the corner.
A large wild duck can sell for 300 yuan
In less than half an hour, a bird hunter rode out on a motorcycle. A bamboo cage was attached behind the motorcycle, and the decoy ducks inside were calling out loudly. The motorcycle sped forward. We followed the bird hunter, trying to find the sales point.
After passing through winding country lanes, we reached a road by the river. The bird hunter stopped in front of a rural convenience store, and a woman in black came out of the store. The bird hunter and the woman in black both turned back and stared at us.
The reporter got out of the car and approached the bird hunter. "Do you have any birds for sale?"
The bird hunter smiled, speaking in heavy local dialect from Xiaoshan, saying, "I didn't catch any wild ducks today."
"These?" The reporter pointed at the ducks in the bamboo cage and asked.
"Decoy ducks." The bird hunter waved his hand and left.
The woman in black told the reporter, "When they catch wild ducks, they tie them to both ends of the vehicle, people see them and stop to buy."
We returned to the Fourth Work Section in Xiaoshan. Two bird hunters had already landed. The reporter pretended to say that his child liked to eat and had come here after being introduced by a friend.
"There are no wild ducks yet, it will only happen when it gets colder, probably these two days," the bird hunter, a middle-aged man wearing a hat, replied in heavy local dialect from Xiaoshan.
At this moment, another bald bird hunter pushed a motorcycle, with a cage of decoy ducks on the back, approaching. "Wild ducks? I caught some yesterday," the bald man laughed and said to the man with the hat, "Old Sun, you're pretty happy, earning two or three thousand yuan in half a month."
Old Sun spread out his hands, pointing to his bald head, and replied, "Happy? Look at my hands, all blisters."
Old Sun told the reporter, "When it gets colder, there should be some these two days, sold right here, give me a call in advance."
"Are there any in the market?"
The bald man laughed, spat on the ground: "We don't go to the market, it's not good in the market." Old Sun chuckled, "There aren't enough sold here, going to the market would be too much trouble."
"When to buy, in the morning or evening?" the reporter asked.
"Come to buy around 7 or 7:30 in the morning," Old Sun answered.
"How much per catty?"
"More than 140 yuan per catty, a large wild duck weighs two catties and two or three taels, costing more than 300 yuan. Small ones cost seventy or eighty yuan." Old Sun said.
Bird hunters build straw huts in the reed beds to wait for prey
On the evening of November 17th, at the Fourth Work Section Bridge in Xiaoshan, the sky gradually darkened. There were still faint shadows of a group of birds visible in the sky.
The "trap pool" emitted the "ga ga" sound of decoy ducks. Five minutes later, a bird flew down from the flock and entered the trap pool. "Pa pa" twice, the trap pool suddenly closed, trapping the bird inside the net, emitting a pitiful cry.
The bird hunter emerged from the straw hut in the reed bed, grabbed the bird, put it in the cage, and brought it into the straw hut. Then, the bird hunter went back into the water, tidied up the trap pool, and returned to the straw hut.
Everything seemed to have returned to calmness, as if nothing had ever happened. The decoy ducks continued to call out "ga ga"...
[Profit] Where do the captured wild birds end up?
On the afternoon of November 18th, the reporter found "Nature Friend", a member of the Zhejiang Wild Bird Association. "Nature Friend" is famous for photographing wild birds around the Qiantang River area.
"In previous years, there were only two or three restaurants selling wild birds, but this year, there are many more restaurants serving wild birds, and they are particularly dense." "Nature Friend" told the reporter.
Under the guidance of "Nature Friend", the reporter rushed to the Qiantang River Tidal Watching Resort area. The Qiantang River Tidal Watching Resort is about 10 kilometers away from the bird hunting spot at the Fourth Work Section in Xiaoshan. "Wild birds are sold nearby in restaurants."
Near the Qiantang River Tidal Watching Resort, there is a whole row of restaurant storefronts. At the first restaurant, there was an opaque white cage placed outside the door.
The reporter entered under the pretense of reserving a dinner gathering for the weekend: "Do you have wild ducks?" The female boss of the restaurant immediately stood up straight to welcome the reporter. In response to the reporter's question, she did not answer immediately but opened the cage by the door, revealing three bird-like creatures similar to ducks, frightened and retreating to the corner.
Nature Friend whispered quietly in the reporter's ear, "They are all Spot-billed Ducks, which are relatively common wild birds around the Qiantang River."
"How come they can't fly? Don't deceive me with domestic ducks." The reporter deliberately asked loudly.
"Their wings have been cut off." The female boss and the chef in the store said, "Absolutely no deception, the taste of wild ducks is different from domestic ducks. You'll know once you've tasted it, it's definitely a wild duck."
The female boss handed over a business card for ordering meals. The reporter saw that the card printed: "Welcome to order meals. Our store supplies wild ducks..."
At the second restaurant, next to the Qiantang River Tidal Watching Resort, there was a fence-style cage placed outside the door, containing four birds, gray feathers, larger than pigeons, estimated to be newly grown young birds, huddled together in one corner of the cage. "They are also Spot-billed Ducks." Nature Friend quietly told the reporter.
A waitress came out to solicit the reporter: "We have Little Swans, wild ducks, poisonous snakes, and pangolins... Wild ducks cost 200 yuan per pot. If you want to eat on the weekend, we will place an order by phone and ensure everything is arranged properly for you."
"Little Swans made into stew are very fresh, and red-cooked pangolin tastes great..." the boss said, "These things are sold to regular customers." The boss told the reporter that during lunchtime, the parking lot in front of the store was filled with cars, "A pot of wild ducks costs hundreds of yuan, a small pot of pangolin, 2800 yuan per pot, would someone without money eat them?"
The reporter walked around again, and among the nearby string of restaurants, nine out of ten had bird cages placed outside their doors...
[Worries]
Bird species on the migration route
May face extinction
According to observations by bird friends of the Zhejiang Wild Bird Association, this year, there are fewer migratory bird "guests" on the Qiantang River compared to previous years.
In previous years, at this time, bird watchers could observe Baikal Teals, Garganeys, and Falcated Ducks at the Fourth Work Section in Xiaoshan; however, this year, at the same place, these bird species have disappeared from sight.
Moreover, the number of some common bird species such as Mallards and Spot-billed Ducks observed this year is also less than in previous years.
"The reasons are multifaceted, but capturing wild birds is also one of the major factors," "Nature Friend" and others believe.
Currently, in the Hangzhou Bay area of the Qiantang River, temporary resting places for migratory birds are mainly distributed in the Fourth Work Section, 19th Work Section, and 17th Work Section of Xiaoshan.
Bird-catching incidents have occurred successively in these areas: at the Fourth Work Section in Xiaoshan, bird hunters vie to set up trap pools on the mudflats; at the 17th Work Section, it is being converted into fish ponds. In mid-October, the Morning Post reported the discovery of a large net over 50 meters away; at the 19th Work Section, last year, Oriental Storks were discovered. Due to the lack of reed beds, bird hunters find it unsuitable to set up trap pools, but bird lovers have also discovered poachers in this area.
Bird experts say that the Hangzhou Bay habitat is crucial for migratory birds because it serves as a stopover for birds to rest and replenish energy before continuing their southward migration.
Bird lovers in Hangzhou worry that if bird hunters are densely spread along the embankment, the reeds are removed, and the ecological environment is destroyed, these beautiful birds may never return in the future, or even worse, some species may face extinction during their migration journey...