Common wild bird now endangered thanks to Chinese gourmets
Yellow-breasted buntings are considered a delicacy in southern China where they are thought to boost sexual vitality
A bird that once numbered in the millions in China has been hunted as a delicacy and is now endangered, with little done to protect its numbers, a new report has found.
The yellow-breasted bunting has fared less fortunately compared to other high-profile endangered species such as giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys, the study said.
The level of threat against the buntings, also known as “rice birds” because they often live in rice fields, has risen from of “least concern” to “endangered” in less than thirty years.
The China Nature Observation Report released on Monday catalogued 1,085 endangered species in China between 2000 and 2015.
The report, published on the international day for biological diversity, was published jointly by organisations including the China Bird Watching Societies Network, the Peking University Centre for Nature and Society, and the Shanshui Conservation Centre.