Villagers give up firecrackers for migratory swans in Shandong
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 31, 2012
Villagers in Yandunjiao, Shandong province, have given up their tradition of setting off firecrackers during the Chinese Lunar New Year in order to maintain a sense of calm amongst the Whooper Swans.
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| Yandunjiao, a coastal village in the city of Rongcheng, Shandong province, serves as a winter home to thousands of Whooper Swans. [whnews.cn] |
Yandunjiao, a coastal village in the city of Rongcheng, Shandong province, serves as a winter home to thousands of Whooper Swans.
The Whooper Swan is a highly vigilant bird that may be scared and flushed by firecrackers. During the Spring Festival, a season of crackles and bangs throughout most of China, the people in Yandunjiao have done without firecrackers since 2000.
Thousands of Whooper Swans from Siberia and Mongolia stay in the fishing village from November to March every year as the government steps up ecology recovery efforts, which has also led to a rise in local villagers' protection awareness.
The Swan Lake in Yandunjiao has become a major part of the Rongcheng Nature Reserve for Whooper Swans. A voluntary protection patrol has been set up in the village to rescue Whooper Swans around the lake.
Yandunjiao has become a major tourist destination in Shandong during the winter.
With the scientific name of Cygnus cygnus, Whooper Swans are large migratory birds that can be found in a number of locations, including the Arctic, Asia, Europe, Russia and the United Kingdom.
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