A couple of wild whooper swans were spotted breeding in the Manas National Wetland Park in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

This is the second time that whooper swans have successfully bred in the wetland.

Whooper swans, listed as a second-class protected animal in China, migrate to the wetland during the winter and leave for breeding sites in the north in March. But, for a second year, the bird was discovered nesting and hatching in the wetland.

Local officials and researchers have been tracking the status of the cygnet.

"Whooper swans usually reproduce in Siberia and further north, or places of higher altitude, where the weather is cooler, and the environment is better. But in our wetland park, the bird bred last year, and bred again this year. It is no easy task for swans to continuously breed here, and, especially, hatch successfully. The altitude here is just around 400 meters," said Ma Ming, a professor at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

After years of protection, the wetland area has expanded from about 2,600 hectares to around 7,300 hectares, attracting over 10,000 birds to stay and breed every year.

"The recovery of the wetland is vital for the migration of birds. We have found many birds breeding here, not limited to swans, but also grebes, black-headed gulls, and so on, totaling dozens of species. This is proof of the fascinating environment here," said Ma.

(Cover: Whooper swans at Sayram Lake in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, February 13, 2024. /CFP)