With the improvement of the local water environment, hundreds of oriental white storks have arrived in Shangqiu City of central China's Henan Province to spend the winter.

The oriental white stork, known as the giant panda among birds, is under first-class state protection in China. As an endangered bird species, the oriental white stork has a population of barely over 3,000 in the world.

Shangqiu has continued to restore the local water ecology and improve the water environment in recent years, creating a better habitat for wildlife. At present, the South Lake of the city has been widened to 8,000 mu (about 534 hectares), attracting dozens of rare birds such as the white swan, Baer's pochard, spoonbill, goosander and mandarin duck.

(Cover image via screenshot.)

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