An injured oriental white stork chick has been released into the wild after being rescued by the Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve in Jixi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on July 29.
Reserve rangers discovered the injured chick while patrolling the Longwangmiao Wetland on June 12. Public security authorities were immediately alerted to transport it to the rehabilitation center of the reserve.
"It was found in marshes near a man-made nest in our breeding zone. We believe it fell from the nest. The chick was critically weak when discovered, so we brought it back," said Liu Yulin, monitor of Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve.
At the reserve, staff members stabilized the chick through medication and nutrient injections after conducting health checks. With the stork too weak to self-feed, staffers hand-fed loaches into its beak.
"We just fed it with six loaches, no more until evening. As its appetite returns, we'll increase intake to 14 to 15 per meal," said Li Fuzhi, an animal keeper of Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve.
After 20 days of recovery, the chick entered flight training. Within another 20 days, it can fly freely in enclosures.
At last, staffers conducted final health checks, bird banding, and tracker fitting at Longwangmiao Wetland on July 29, before releasing the birds back into the wild.
Rescued oriental stork returns to wild in northeast China
