Only one beaver species lives in China, and that is the Sino-Mongolian beaver. Chu Wenwen is one of its guardians. Growing up with wild animals in Altay region in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the young female wildlife conservationist loves her little friends deeply. She now runs a non-governmental organization called "True Nature Conservation Association," which aims to turn the beaver into an idol and call on the public to protect them. 

"Beaver canteen" is one of its conservation programs to solve the food shortage problem for beavers. Wenwen and her team would send bales of straw to herders. In return, they would plant Salix saposhnikovii for beavers using saplings provided by the NGO. In this way, the livestock of herders would have straw to eat, and not have to compete for food with beavers. Beavers would then stay.

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(Cover image is provided by Chu Wenwen.)

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