A tourist at Hangzhou’s Taiziwan Park attempted to place a young mandarin duck into a plastic bag. Volunteers from the West Lake Mandarin Duck Protection Team intercepted him, alerted police, and ensured the bird’s safe release after he falsely claimed it was a purchased duckling.

Social Context

Mandarin ducks are nationally protected Class II species under China’s Wildlife Protection Law. Urban parks now deploy volunteer ‘Ecological Watchers’ trained by forestry bureaus to identify illegal wildlife handling—supported by AI camera systems that flag unusual animal-carrying behavior.

Safety Tip

Photographers should use telephoto lenses and avoid flash near nesting birds; if witnessing wildlife disturbance, report via the ‘China Wildlife Protection’ WeChat mini-program with geotagged video evidence.