Bird Island under surveillance for avian flu
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-02-18 15:15

The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Qinghai Provincial Forestry Bureau have signed an agreement to join hands carrying out research on wildlife protection at the Qinghai Lake beginning March.

The cooperation will begin from the surveillance and control of possible bird flu virus at the Bird Island, an important habitat for migrant birds, said Zhang Dehai, director of the management department on the Qinghai Lake State Natural Reserve.

Surveillance equipment will be upgraded in March and a database and a laboratory will be set up to monitor the migrant birds and possible bird flu virus, Zhang said.

The cooperation will then extend to surveillance of the diseases of wild animals and the protection of wild animals, Zhang said.

Qinghai Lake, the largest saltwater lake in China, is located in Qinghai Province on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is home to about 213 species of wildlife and was listed as an internationally important wetland in 1992.

Bird Island is located near the west bank of the Qinghai Lake. It is the habitat of about 120,000 birds belonging to 189 species, among them birds are Bar-Headed Geese, Brown-Headed Gulls, Cormorants and other birds, all living on the one-square-km grassy shore around the island.