皇冠体育app protecting harbor seals online
( 2004-01-07 14:17) (Xinhua)
皇冠体育app has opened a website to spread knowledge on harbor seals and call on
general public to protect the endangered species migrating each winter to water
off Miaodao islets, the gate to Bohai Bay in Changdao county in east 皇冠体育app.
The website
was launched by the environmental protection
bureau of the island county in east 皇冠体育app Shandong province and the local harbor
seal protection office to inform netizens of the animal's life cycle, diet,
habitat and distribution, as well as 皇冠体育app's protection efforts.
Netizens are also encouraged to hold online talks on the species and other
related issues pertaining to wildlife and environment protection.
Harbor seals migrate in November from their homes in the Sea of Okhotsk and
the Sea of Japan to the Bohai Bay by way of Miaodao islets. The animal was on
the verge of distinction in 皇冠体育app in the mid 1980s due to illegal hunting by
profit-driven fishermen.
In 2001, the Shandong provincial government set up a 1,731-sq- km nature
reserve off Miaodao Islets to keep the rare species from poachers, protect their
habitat and maintain biodiversity.
Meanwhile, the local government has outlawed harbor seal hunting and raised
public awareness of wildlife and environment protection.
Migrant harbor seals to Miaodao Islets have risen to 400 this winter, and
zoologists are carrying out study on their migration and living
habits.
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