Species recorded in Haikou's wetlands increasing

By Nicki Johnson / HICN / Updated: 21:12,06-November-2022

After darkness falls, when all the lights are glowing brightly and the streets are full of the noise of nightlife in the city of Haikou on China’s tropical island of Hainan, many animals are also out for a bit of fun, playing and dancing to the music of the night.​

Amphibians

Asian Grass Frogs, Marbled Narrow-mouth Frogs, Spot-legged Tree Frogs, South China Tree Toads, and many more frog and toad species rely on the wetland habitat of the Wuyuanhe (Wuyuan River) National Wetland Park in the city. After it rains, conditions here are just right for them to mate! The males begin to make mating calls to attract females, and soon the party gets started.

 Doria's Asian Treefrog (Photo / Li Yue)

Lu Gang, Director of the Haikou Duotan Wetland Research Institute, believes the fact that these frogs have been found here is proof that the environment in Wuyuanhe is similar to their natural habitat. "Perhaps due to the larger amount of rainfall this year, they have been laying their eggs in puddles of rainwater. Since tadpoles mature quickly, they have enough time to grow into adults before the puddles dry up."

In September, a rather interesting reptile was found in Wuyuanhe National Wetland Park - the Hainan Cave Gecko. This gecko is only found in Hainan, thus the name. It prefers to live in wetlands in areas with volcanic stone formations and tropical or monsoon rainforests. The fact that this cute lizard has now been spotted in Wuyuanhe shows that the geography and conditions here meet the gecko’s needs.

Hainan Cave Geckos (Photo / Lu Gang)

The Hainan Paddy Frog, another species unique to Hainan, has also been recorded in E’xian Ridge, Jianfengling, Yinggeling, and Jiaxi Nature Reserves in recent years. These frogs live in abandoned rice paddies alongside villages and forest ponds at elevations between 160 and 1,470 meters above sea level. Their high-pitched calls form their own secret frog code.

Animals

"Leopard Cats have been sighted in Wuyuanhe!" On one day in February, an image of a Leopard Cat with a beautifully patterned coat flooded the social media feeds of everyone in Hainan.

Leopard Cat (Photo / Lu Gang)

How could there be big cats living in the city? According to Lu Gang, small mammals like Leopard Cats may not need such large swathes of pristine natural habitat as people imagine they do. They can also live in small, fragmented environments. Since work began on the Wuyuanhe Wetland Park in 2017, river ecology management, wetland protection and restoration, wild plant habitat construction, and other ecological work have given many rare wild plant and animal species a comfortable home. The appearance of the Leopard Cat here brings even more attention to the importance of wetland protection.

Actually, the Leopard Cat is not the only rare creature to be sighted in Wuyuanhe in recent years.

On the upper reaches of the Wuyuan River, Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupines have also been spotted. Nearly the entire bodies of these nocturnal creatures are covered in spines, which they deploy towards anything that looks like it means them harm. Although these spiky critters look fierce, they are actually gentle herbivores.

Birds

According to Lu Gang, eight new species of birds have recently been recorded for the first time at Wuyuanhe. Other than the local resident Ashy Woodswallow, the rest were just passing through on their annual migrations.

Common Kestrel (Photo / Cai Ting)

Lesser Coucal (Photo / Cai Ting)

Huge numbers of birds spend the winter in Hainan every year. The Ashy Woodswallow, which was recently spotted sitting on an electric pylon, was not at all a common sight in previous years. “They are highly intelligent. These days the natural cliffs they prefer are in short supply, so they have learned to nest on man-made objects, and their young hatch in a half natural, half man-made environment,” said Lu Gang.

In contrast to the fairly shy birds of the Wuyuanhe Wetland Park, large platoons of migratory birds arrive every fall at the Hainan Dongzhaigang (Dongzhai Port) National Nature Reserve, where they have become part of the scenery of the season.

Little Ringed Plover (Photo / Cai Ting)

Dongzhaigang is the first national nature reserve focused on the preservation of mangrove forests, and it provides an excellent ecological environment where birds can both forage and nest. Thanks to ongoing mangrove forest protection and restoration work, the local ecological environment continues to improve. The number of wild plant and animal species in Dongzhai Harbor continues to rise, with the number of recorded bird species increasing to 218 as of last year.

Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Photo / Cai Ting)

Dragonflies

Dragonflies are compact, delicate insects. The Wuyuanhe Wetland Park is the favorite spot of many dragonflies. “Over half of Haikou’s dragonfly species live here,” Lu Gang pointed out.

Greater Blue Wing Dragonfly. (Photo / Lu Gang) 

In fact, dragonflies have been flitting through the skies above the earth since before the dinosaurs appeared. Their flying abilities are unrivalled in the insect kingdom, and they can live in all kinds of environments. They can be seen living in and around small streams and mighty rivers, lakes, marshes, and other wetlands all across the island of Hainan.

Their very abundance is one reason why dragonfly larvae are considered an important indicator species for wetland quality. Some dragonfly larvae require an environment with clear, clean water, or need other specialized micro-habitats. Their existence can show that the wetlands where they live are in excellent condition, while their lack is a concerning sign of a worsening environment.

Crimson Marsh Glider (Photo / Lu Gang)

In recent years, Hainan has gone all out to develop an ecological culture, attaching great importance to wetland conservation, and passing a number of measures to protect and restore these vital natural areas, while making life better and safer for the island’s dragonflies. In addition to four dragonfly species that have been recently added to the recorded species of the Wuyuanhe Wetland Park, Haikou’s Meishehe (Meishe River) Fengxiang Wetland Park has frequent sightings of the Variable Wisp Damselfly, which enjoys resting on the purple flowers of the Pickerel Weed plant. The Marsh Bluetail, on the other hand, likes to sit on lily pads in wetland ponds. When they mate, the paired bodies of the male and female blue-tails form the shape of a heart.

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