“China’s population of the Baer’s Pochard, a critically endangered diving duck, has more than doubled to 2,555, up from roughly 1,000 in 2012,” reports China Daily:
The study, the first to fully map the status of the species, identifies 16 key habitats and offers critical insights for conservation.
Designated as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, and currently under China’s top-level State protection, the Baer’s Pochard was once widespread across East Asia but saw a dramatic decline in the 20th century due to habitat loss and illegal hunting, according to the administration.
Today, over 80 percent of its global population winters in China, with only sporadic sightings reported elsewhere.
The survey covered 212 wintering sites across 21 provincial-level regions, revealing that 83.6 percent of the ducks cluster in 16 habitats, with each hosting over 30 ducks. Lakes accounted for 71.51 percent of their habitats, followed by rivers and reservoirs.
Intriguingly, the species showed a preference for small, abandoned vegetation-rich fish ponds and medium-sized lakes. This challenges previous assumptions about their habitat choices and underscores the need for tailored habitat management, according to the administration.
The saiga antelope has been brought back from the brink of extinction in Kazakhstan, China’s neighbor in Central Asia.
Kazakhstan’s snow leopard population has doubled in recent years.
Wild horses recently returned to Kazakhstan after being absent for two hundred years.
Brazil’s rarest parrots have made a comeback.
Fish species are rebounding off the coast of California due to their young finding a sanctuary in abandoned oil rigs.
Scientists recently discovered that the world’s coral reefs are more plentiful than previously thought. A recent study finds that corals recover faster on artificial structures than on natural reefs.
