The 39th Shanghai Bird-Loving Week Held

Swan geese, the national second-class protected animal, in Heping Park.

Themed on fasting wild animals and cherishing life, the 39^th Shanghai Bird-Loving Week was held on April 11-17.

Due to the outbreak, the Bird-loving Week this year has no offline activities. But, the Animal Island in Heping Park has a better self-incubation technology and a greater diversity of birds in recent year, so it attracts families to watch birds and learn the relevant knowledge including that "it's a newborn emu from Animal Island" and "this is crested duck that has feather curling up on the head".

By now, there are national second-class protected birds on the Animal Island such as wild geese, scarlet macaws, eclectic parrots, red-breasted parakeets and yellow parakeets. Among them, the eclectic parrot was found at the home of a suspect by the Hongkou Economic Investigation Detachment and housed on the Animal Island last year. The yellow parakeet was found due to an unexpected inspection in the district’s flower and bird market by the law-enforcement officers from the District Greening Management Center.

According to Feng Shan, the head of the Animal Island, many residents like to keep parrots at home. In addition to peony parrots, cockatiels and budgerigars, all parrots are national protected animals by now, so the residents will be suspected of violating the law if they buy or keep parrots other than the above three kinds of parrots at will. Taken from the wild field by lawbreakers, most of the parrots are probable to carry viral bacteria and parasites that can be transmitted to humans and bring a health hazard to the public. Besides, the action to catch wild birds can cause irreversible damage to the population of these species.

In addition, the Animal Island set a national second-class protected bird free during the Bird-loving Week, namely, the world's vulnerable bird Fairy Pitta. As the beauty in birds, Fairy Pitta has eight colors in feathers. According to Feng, this Fairy Pitta was found in the balcony at the home of a resident in the district, and was treated on the Animal Island. The breeders found an injury on its left wing and got it recovered after a week. As Fairy Pitta is a local wildlife, to breed it in captivity is not conducive to its nature. Thus, the Animal Island sets it free eventually.

Moreover, the District Greening and Urban Appearance Bureau launched an initiative during the Bird-loving Week that the public should care about and protect wild animals, further set up the awareness to love birds, establish a scientific and civilized view on food, and abandon the bad habit to eat wild animals indiscriminately.