On August 11, a bird with an odd appearance was found lying on a rugged mountain road in Guangdong's Lianshan Mountain and Bijia Mountain Provincial Nature Reserve (广东连山笔架山省级自然保护区). It was immediately sent to the local Qingyuan Wildlife Rescue Center and was identified as the white-eared night heron, also called "the most mysterious bird in the world".
The bird weighs about 800g, with blackish-brown upper body and gray wings. The feathers on its wings have a few white spots.
According to experts, the white-eared night heron is extremely rare globally, even rarer than pandas. The IUCN Red List (The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species) has listed it as an endangered species because its population is small, fragmented and declining. The population of the wild adult white-eared night heron in the world is less than 1,000. In the past 40 years, only five herons have been found in northern Guangdong.
After a series of examinations and treatments by the rescue center, the bird now has recovered significantly. "This is the first time for us to receive a white-eared night heron. We will send it back to nature after it is fully recuperated," a staff member from the rescue center said.
Author: Ariel, Tonny (intern)
Editor: Wing, Steven, Monica, Jerry
