Yellow-bellied Tragopan

Yellow-bellied Tragopan

　　Shaxian’s Mingxi County has earned another prestigious national title: “Hometown of the Yellow-bellied Tragopan in China,” thanks to advantages such as hosting 10% of the national population of the Yellow-bellied Tragopan, known as the “panda of birds.”

　　 Recently, the China Wildlife Conservation Association issued the “Decision of the China Wildlife Conservation Association on Awarding Mingxi County, Fujian Province, the Title of ‘Hometown of the Yellow-bellied Tragopan in China’.” As a result, Mingxi has become one of the first two counties in Fujian Province to be named after a wildlife species, and the first in Sanming. This is another prestigious title for Mingxi following its 2004 recognition as the “Hometown of the Yew in China,” named after the nationally protected plant, the yew.

　　 According to local forestry authorities, the Yellow-bellied Tragopan had a historically narrow distribution range in China. Due to its extremely low natural reproduction rate and the sharp reduction of its habitat, it was already endangered by the late 1970s. It is a Class I nationally protected wild animal, listed in both the “China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals · Aves Volume” and the “List of Threatened Birds in the World,” and is identified as an urgently protected species in the “World Pheasant Conservation Action Plan 2000–2004.” Nowadays, large groups are rarely seen in the wild, making it an endemic and endangered pheasant species in China, and earning it the nickname “panda of birds.”

　　 To protect this rare resource, the People’s Government of Mingxi County has repeatedly invited experts from higher education institutions, such as Professor Zhang Zhengwang, Secretary-General of the Chinese Ornithological Society, Director of the Pheasant Committee, and faculty at Beijing Normal University, and Professor Chen Xiaolin from Xiamen University, to conduct surveys in Mingxi. The surveys confirmed that the Yellow-bellied Tragopan population found in the Junfengshan Provincial Nature Reserve in Xiayang Township, Mingxi County, is one of the largest wild populations in China. A total of 19 wild populations comprising 360 Yellow-bellied Tragopans have been discovered in areas such as Fengxi Township and Hufang Town in Mingxi County. According to expert analysis, this population accounts for 10% of the national total.

　　 It is reported that over the years, Mingxi County has carried out extensive work in researching and protecting the “national treasure” Yellow-bellied Tragopan.

　　 First, leveraging its unique natural environmental conditions, the county has expanded the protected habitat range for the Yellow-bellied Tragopan. Human disturbance has been reduced through relocation programs from mountainous areas. Following the approach of “facilitating natural regeneration artificially,” some artificial coniferous forests within the region have been updated and transformed to promote the recovery of broad-leaved forests and improve the habitat for the Yellow-bellied Tragopan. Measures such as placing artificial bird nests and providing artificial feeding have significantly improved the hatching rate, chick survival rate, and adult survival rate of wild Yellow-bellied Tragopans, leading to a rapid recovery of the population.

　　 Second, the county has carried out conservation and monitoring activities in the natural activity areas of the Yellow-bellied Tragopan. These efforts help to timely understand and monitor changes in the local ecological environment, as well as the dynamic changes among the Yellow-bellied Tragopan and other flora and fauna populations, facilitating the formulation of reasonable policies.

　　 Currently, Mingxi County is collaborating with the Fujian Academy of Forestry and Fuzhou Zoo on technical projects, implementing the national key project on the field rescue and domestication of the Yellow-bellied Tragopan. The plan is to establish a breeding base for the Yellow-bellied Tragopan in its native habitat, focusing on artificial breeding efforts. This is another major national-level project on conserving an endangered species in Mingxi County, following the successful implementation of a national project years ago on the research and development of the yew, a Class I nationally protected wild plant.