A villager saved an injured rare bird that is under the first-class state protection in Tongliao City of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region recently. 

Li Chunyu, a villager of Horqin District of Tongliao City, found an injured big bird when he was herding geese on June 3. Without any idea of what it was, he took it home. 

"It was shivering when I took it home, just like when people get cold. Its body was huddled up and it could not stand up. Now it has gotten better and I feed it with some meat," said Li. 

The villager immediately called forestry authorities for help. They confirmed that it was a bearded vulture, an animal under the first-class state protection in China. Suffering an injury on its left eye, the injured animal looked very weak. 

The bird was then taken to the wildlife rescue center by the forest police for treatment and feeding. The staff at the center said it was probably injured due to the inclement weather. 

"Heavy rain poured the area and hail battered some banners and counties. It's probably got injured after being hit by large-grained hail," said Bai Xiaobin, staff member of Tongliao wildlife protection center in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. 

The staff member said the bearded vulture will be treated at the protection center until it recovers, at which point it will be released to nature. 

The bearded vulture usually lives in rocky mountainous areas at an altitude of 500 to 4,000 meters and feeds on large animal carcasses. Due to their unusual living environment, people rarely see the creature. 

(Cover image via VCG)

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