Over 300 species of terrestrial wildlife found in Wuxi

^{A photo of an oriental white stork taken by a bird watcher in Wuxi. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]}

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province has become a wildlife paradise, local media reported on Feb 7.

A two-year survey launched by the Wuxi municipal bureau of natural resources and planning showed that 314 species of terrestrial wildlife have been found in the city, representing 51.98 percent of all terrestrial wildlife species in Jiangsu.

^{A photo of white spoonbills and black-faced spoonbills taken by a bird watcher in Wuxi. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]}

Among the 314 wildlife species, 66 are important wildlife under national protection, accounting for 42 percent of the provincial total.

Feng Yao, an official from the Wuxi bureau, noted that the survey involves terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Birds account for the most species in Wuxi at 264, taking up 58.93 percent of Jiangsu's total, added Feng.

Wuxi is home to nine national first-class protected bird species, including oriental white storks, black-faced spoonbills, yellow-billed egrets, scaly-sided mergansers, and white-necked long-tailed pheas.

^{A photo of baer's pochards by Wang Jianguo. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]}

In addition to the mountainous areas in Yixing and low mountains and hills in the downtown area, many of the birds live in the wetlands around Taihu Lake.

"More than 10 years ago, bird watchers in Wuxi started recording the birds they watched," said Feng. "To date, local bird watchers have recorded 377 species of birds in Wuxi, far more than the 264 species from the survey."

According to the survey, Wuxi currently also houses 26 species of mammal, 16 species of reptile, eight species of amphibian, and 185 species of insect.