Reflections on a time of change

Wildlife must be allowed to live in the wild

As a reporter, my beat revolves around wildlife protection. When I tell friends or reporters from other media companies about my job, their reply usually begins with "Wow!"

In most cases, the same question quickly follows, "You must have ample opportunities to have close contact with some extraordinary wild animals, right?"

Well, the answer may be disappointing. It is "No".

Over recent years, I have traveled to some of the most isolated places in China, including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau－the high habitat of snow leopards, Tibetan antelopes and black-necked cranes－and the thick forests in the southwestern province of Yunnan, home to the critically endangered western black crested gibbon.

Despite that, opportunities to take a closer look at wild animals, especially large mammals, are quite rare. It is the same for large birds, such as the green peafowl, which is highly alert to human activities.

This may trigger another erroneous question, "Is that because of the decline in the wildlife population?"

In fact, many endangered wild animals in China have seen encouraging population surges in recent decades, thanks to the unstinting efforts of the government, social organizations and people in general.

This is supported by the data. The number of wild Asian elephants, which enjoy the top level of State protection, has risen from 175 in the 1970s to about 300, according to statistics from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The crested ibis－aka "the oriental gem", once thought to be extinct as a result of human activities such as urbanization and pollution－has seen its population boom from seven in 1981 to more than 5,000.

In the past 40 years, the number of black-faced spoonbills has risen from 1,000 to 4,000, while the population of Siberian cranes has climbed from 210 to 4,500.

So, why is it still difficult for people to see these animals? The answer is simple: wildlife belongs in the wild. Animals are not part of our human community and they should live in the wild－at a distance far from our homes, as happened for thousands of years, instead of modern moves toward close contact with human society.

During the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held last year in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, the Fuligong Greenhouses at the Kunming Institute of Botany attracted many reporters and delegates from China and overseas.

The greenhouses hold more than 2,000 wild plants, most of them very rare or endangered. Two weeks after the conference, they opened to a limited number of visitors free of charge.

My parents obtained tickets. They came home with a deeper appreciation of the plants, especially one nicknamed "dancing grass", whose leaves sway in time with vibrations when music is played close by.

However, they were confused by the fences surrounding the grass, the only plant subject to such protection at the greenhouses.

"A staff member told us that many people love the grass, and some visitors even take clumps home. There used to be four plants in the greenhouses but now only one is left," they told me.

While animal numbers have risen thanks to China's better environment, I think we must learn an important principle to maintain harmonious relations between humans and nature: let wildlife live in the wild.