Beijing, December 13 (Youth.cn) - Cabot’s tragopans were set free in Wuyanling National Nature Reserve in Taishun County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province on the day of December 12, 2024.
15 Cabot’s tragopans, among which are 10 male and 5 female, were set free on the day. They are selected from a group of 80 human-bred Cabot’s tragopans. Solar powered GPS chips are embedded on the back of these Cabot’s tragopans. These chips will allow researchers to track the birds’ movement, helping them prevent possible danger for these Cabot’s tragopans. The data recorded will benefit the research on the diet, the preferred habitat, and the behaviour of Cabot’s tragopans.
Wuyanling National Nature Reserve has been breeding Cabot’s tragopans under the guidance of the research team of Beijing Normal University since 2011. It has successfully bred over 130 Cabot’s tragopans, forming the largest human-bred group. In 2019, the reserve began to set these Cabot’s tragopans free, adding to 50 birds this year.
Wuyanling National Nature Reserve is located in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, with the core purpose of protecting Cabot’s tragopan - which can solely be found in China - and the typical forest ecosystem of the middle subtropical zone. There are more than 500 Cabot’s tragopans living within the nature reserve, about 1/10 of the total number around the world. Photo/VCG