Source: Xinhua
04-05-2009 15:24
Special Report: Tech MaxSHIJIAZHUANG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Between the hunter and the hunted, which should be protected first?
Chinese animal preservation experts are wrestling with that question as condors and spotted deer, both endangered species, have become an unanticipated food chain in a reserve in the northern province of Hebei, near Beijing.
More than 100 young deer have been eaten by condors this spring, Zhou Changhong, a senior administration officer at the Luanhe River National Nature Reserve, told a Xinhua reporter Thursday.
"The raptors are growing in number and threatening to catch larger animals, like elk, in the reserve."
The reserve, sprawling over 50,634 hectares at the headwaters of the Luanhe River, is home to more than 600 spotted deer and 10elk that have been relocated from remote parts of Beijing.
Both are listed among China's most endangered animal species. But the predator, the condor, is on China's second-ranked preservation list.
