Yan Jun is more than glad to see an increasing number of Baer’s pochard, a critically endangered duck species, in Wuhan, Hubei Province. As the head of the Wuhan Bird Watching Society, in early November, Yan released a map of the animals’ sphere of activity in the city, also the world’s southernmost known breeding site of the pochards.
Historically, the duck has been breeding in the north and wintering in the south. However, in recent decades, due to environmental changes and habitat destruction, they have been gradually moving south to find new homes. In 2021, it was listed as a national-level protected wild animal species.
“According to our continuous monitoring for many years, the ducks have not only distributed more widely in Wuhan, but also steadily increased in number year by year,” Yan said, adding this rare species has benefited
