Twice a year , hundred of 1000 of avian visitant gather at the Yalu Jiang Estuary Wetland National Nature Reserve , a 50 - or - so - kilometer ( 31 - knot ) cartoon strip of protect clay flats in the eastern region of China , close to the North Korean molding . Once there , the hoot can englut on kale and loosen before setting off on the next ramification of their migratory journeying .
But this yr , the combined toll of an extremely frosty wintertime ( the cold in decennium ) and eld of man - made pollution and environmental abasement has resulted in a severely depleted seafood provision . Today ’s clam universe is just 5 percent of what it used to be and it is certainly not enough to feed the 250,000 or so shorebirds , including the bar - tail godwit and dandy knot , expected to swing by the reserve between March and May during the springtime migration .
If nothing is done , the harsh realism is that M of the birds could famish to death , so wildlife expert in the area have come up with a radical resolution : a very , verybig bird feeder .
" Drastic problem call for drastic measure , " David Melville , a coastal shorebird ecologist from the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre in Auckland , New Zealand , told reporters atABC News .
The Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre is presently working with the Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve inan international effortto elevate funds to build " the cosmos ’s biggest birdfeeder " , which once completed will be km long and wide . About 500 t ( 550 tons ) of farmed shellfish will then be dropped into the estuary for the shorebirds to feed on . So far , enough has been raised to feed the hiss for at least three weeks .
" We have a pick , yes we could let nature take its grade and we could see a critically endanger species get even more critically endanger , " Melville add .
" Or we could take to interfere for what hopefully will be a one - off event and put supplementary provender out this yr to tide over part of the population so they can migrate and cover successfully . "
Theendangered speciesMelville consult to is thegreat knot(Calidris tenuirostris ) , a short , plump migratory bird that splits its class between Siberia and Southeast Asia or Australia . population of the bird have been lessen and there are now thought to be just 380,000 great gnarl in the wild .
Surveyshave shown that the Yalu Jiang Estuary is the coinage ' single most important layover site so the move could be crucial to forestall numbers from declining even more than they already have .
