A birding race scheduled for December in central China's Dongting Lake has been canceled due to bird flu, according to the East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve Administration.
The annual event, organized by the China National Forestry Bureau and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, was launched in December 2002 and has attracted hundreds of enthusiasts from both home and abroad every year.
"But this year, we regret to say that the birding race has to be dropped to prevent the spread of bird flu," said Jiang Yong, vice director of the nature reserve administration, adding that the message has been sent around to birders through the official Website of the World Wildlife Foundation (China).
Dongting Lake is located on the lower basin of the Yangtze River and is the second largest freshwater lake in China. East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve is among the 21 wetlands nature reserves of international importance designated by the government.
The lake area is an important winter ground for 255 species of birds, seven of which are under top-tier state protection. Millions of water birds appear here each year, and over 250 species have been recorded to date, Jiang said.
Hunan Province is on many migrant birds' flying trajectory and serves as the perfect habitat for birds from Siberia.
(Xinhua)