Red-bellied squirrel is an endangered species. Why did Sichuan villagers catch one to subsidize 4 yuan?

Red-bellied squirrel is endemic to Asia and one of the "three protected animals" in China (that is, terrestrial wild animals that are beneficial to national protection or have important economic and scientific research value). However, on October 29th, 20 1717, the Forestry Department of Sichuan Province announced the results of the third general survey of forest pests in the province (the three-year survey from 20 14 to 2017), but the red-bellied squirrel was regarded as "a large area with serious damage. Then, the red-bellied squirrel is clearly a national "three-owned animal", why is it still being killed by a "reward" in Sichuan? Let's talk about this problem together.

First of all, let's briefly understand that the red-bellied squirrel is one of the most common squirrels in Asia. Throughout Asia, they are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with more than 30 different subspecies. There are no fewer than 18 subspecies in China alone. In China, they widely inhabit the dense forests below 2500m above sea level in the south of China.

From the appearance, the red-bellied squirrel has reddish hair all over its abdomen and inside its limbs, and dark brown hair on its back, which is very gorgeous and has certain ornamental value. Therefore, red-bellied squirrels are kept as pets by some people.

In terms of feeding habits, the red-bellied squirrel has a variety of feeding habits, whether it is the fruits, leaves, bark or insects of wild plants. In the wild environment, the average life span of red-bellied squirrel is about 8- 15 years, and it can reach 23 years under artificial breeding. Moreover, the red-bellied squirrel can breed almost all year round, and can give birth to 1-3 cubs at a time.

Although the life span of red-bellied squirrels is not short and their reproductive ability is not bad, in the primitive environment, their numbers are generally declining, because many squirrels have lost their habitat because of human destruction of forest vegetation. This is also the main reason why the red-bellied squirrel is listed as "vulnerable animal" by IUCN and "three big animals" by China.

From animal protection to reward killing, what has red-bellied squirrel experienced? At the beginning of the article, we said that Sichuan Hongya Forest Farm regards red-bellied squirrels as "pests" and encourages killing, so this forest farm must be different from other places. First of all, from 1999, the staff of Hongya Forest Farm found that red-bellied squirrels were eating bark crazily in the forest area, resulting in the death of many trees. It was from this time that the red-bellied squirrel was offered a reward. Then, there are few red-bellied squirrels in other places. Why are they flooding here and becoming "pests"? Let's explain this problem from three aspects:

First, the plant diversity is poor.

Sichuan Hongya Forest Farm is an artificial forest farm, with Cryptomeria fortunei and Cunninghamia lanceolata as the main species, and red-bellied squirrels as omnivores. According to the research of Chinese scientists on the feeding habits of red-bellied squirrels, more than 40% of their food is plant leaves, followed by plant fruits, accounting for about 30%, flowers accounting for about 1 1%, and bark accounting for 60%. In normal wild forests, different plants blossom and bear fruit at different times, which provides food diversity for red-bellied squirrels. In the artificial forest, a single plant makes the red-bellied squirrel lack food, especially in spring and winter, when there are few leaves and no fruit, the red-bellied squirrel will eat bark. Therefore, one of the reasons why red-bellied squirrels become' pests' is that the plants in the plantation are single, which makes the red-bellied squirrels eat more bark.

Second: lack of natural enemies.

In the normal wild environment, the red-bellied squirrel belongs to the relatively bottom of the food chain. Their natural enemies include wild cats, weasels and large raptors. In a complete ecology, the number of red-bellied squirrels can be effectively controlled, and their habitats are artificially reduced, so they become protected animals. However, in artificial forests, there is no complete ecology here. After the red-bellied squirrel enters, it can thrive here at will. In addition, the density of plants in the forest area is very high, so it is difficult for raptors to lock squirrels from the dense forest, which also increases the difficulty for natural enemies to kill them (even if raptors pass by, they will fly away). Without the restraint of natural enemies, their numbers will gradually become uncontrolled.

Therefore, the lack of natural enemies in the artificial forest environment is the main reason for the large number of red-bellied squirrels.

Third: focus

There are no fewer than 18 subspecies of red-bellied squirrel in China, and there are 5 subspecies in Sichuan alone. At present, many vegetation has been cut down, which makes the scattered red-bellied squirrels have to migrate to places suitable for survival. Plantations with dense vegetation and lack of natural enemies naturally become the best choice. The surrounding red-bellied squirrels all gathered in the artificial forest, which increased the population density. Coupled with the absence of natural enemies, the red-bellied squirrel has a strong reproductive ability, so the red-bellied squirrel has flooded many artificial forest farms in Sichuan.

Therefore, the proliferation of red-bellied squirrels in Sichuan is closely related to the single vegetation and poor biodiversity of artificial forests.

Encouraging villagers to kill is the solution to the flood of red-bellied squirrels? As for the problem of squirrels flooding in Sichuan, I think the problem is not red-bellied squirrels, but artificial forests. Obviously, the best way to solve their flooding is not to encourage killing, or at least not to kill at once, because squirrels are not wrong, they just breed and survive normally.

I think we can solve the problem of red-bellied squirrels flooding from the following two points:

First, change the vegetation status of the plantation. The single vegetation is the main reason why red-bellied squirrels harm trees (eat bark). From this point of view, the plantation can give up some benefits, cut down some single plants, and introduce other native plants to enrich the diversity of plants, so that the red-bellied squirrel has more food choices and naturally does less harm to the bark (referring to the wild environment, bark is not the main food of the red-bellied squirrel).

Secondly, the diversity of vegetation has come up, and the trees in the whole forest area are scattered, which is also conducive to the survival of natural enemies of red-bellied squirrels. In this way, it is most appropriate to control the overflow of animals with natural constraints.

Second, restore a certain ecological environment. As we said above, many wild forest areas have been artificially cut down, so that red-bellied squirrels have entered the artificial forest in large numbers. Therefore, reducing the number of squirrels in the plantation and rebuilding the damaged forest nearby are also beneficial to the spread of red-bellied squirrels.

To sum up, red-bellied squirrels are as fragile as giant pandas, which proves that red-bellied squirrels are facing the fate of disappearing, but it is no coincidence that they are flooded in some places in Sichuan. It is precisely because of the ecological oneness of the plantation that the red-bellied squirrel lost the threat of natural enemies and flooded. After the flood, due to the singleness of plants, it increased the consumption of bark, thus becoming a "pest". Therefore, to solve the problem of red-bellied squirrels, we should not kill them at once, but change the ecological environment of artificial forests instead of blindly pursuing interests.

From 65438 to 0999, the rodent infestation of red-bellied squirrel in Hongya county forest area suddenly became serious, and a "human-mouse war" also started. Hongya State-owned Forest Farm encourages forest residents to kill rats, kills a squirrel with a tail as physical evidence, and subsidizes 4 yuan. Hongya Forestry Bureau and School of Life Sciences of Sichuan University have made every effort to prevent and control rodents, and controlling red-bellied squirrels has also brought a "by-product":

Squirrel bites, wood loss 30%! The four-year visit to the region and the survey of species have created the history of Sichuan. The results show that there are 6448 species of forest pests in the province, including pika 16 species, 56 species with large area and serious damage, and red-bellied squirrel is among them. According to the information released by the forestry department, in recent years, the damage of Cryptomeria fortunei, Cunninghamia lanceolata and Ginkgo plantations in the western edge of Deyang, Chengdu, Meishan, Leshan and Ya 'an basins has been aggravated year by year, and some areas have been seriously affected.

In order to control rodents, Hongya state-owned forest farm encourages forest residents to kill rodents and gives subsidies, which has achieved good results. As long as they are not poisoned, most of the red-bellied squirrels caught by other methods are regarded as food, which can be cooked by ordinary restaurants and taken home by many forest residents. This is only to control population density and prevent disasters, but it will never be destroyed. It is best to achieve ecological balance.

hope this helps

This is why oranges are born in Huaibei, but they are bitter oranges. In the forestry sector, they are pests, and peeling bark is the reason why they are listed as pests. Different subspecies of red-bellied squirrel have different hazards. Sichuan subspecies was damaged at an altitude of 600- 1 600 m, and Hongya was mainly damaged from 10 to May of the following year. The damaged tree species are Chinese fir, Cryptomeria fortunei, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Paulownia, Ginkgo biloba and so on. The damaged forest ages ranged from 3 young trees to 25-year-old forests, and the most serious ones were Chinese fir and Cryptomeria fortunei, which were 10- 15 years old. The damage modes are girdling at the base of the trunk and stripping at the middle and lower parts of the tree, with the longest length of 2-3 m. In Tian Quan, Lushan and Yingjing of Ya 'an, the damage time of the local red-bellied squirrel is divided into two stages, namely, April-June,10-February, and March is harmless. The age of injury is 5-25 years old, and the way of injury is consistent with Hongya. The forest age of Jiaxing subspecies in Zhejiang and Guizhou is concentrated in 10-20 years, starting from 5 years. The damaged parts are mostly at the base of the crown above 5 m, and those below 4 m are mostly in the trunk, and are rarely girdled at the base near the surface. Look clearly, the little guy is humble and eats high-grade ingredients or endangered trees. That's why you were killed. What if it is a giant panda? Then eat. Because pandas are rare.

Too much in a local small environment will destroy the ecological environment. As we all know, squirrels have strong reproductive ability, but Hongya's natural enemies such as eagles may be few. Squirrels explode, which will destroy the forest and eventually affect the population (an old case in Huangshi National Park). Over the years, people have made up some natural enemies of squirrels, and the population has not decreased significantly (collecting squirrels' tails costs money). If it happens to achieve ecological balance, why not kill squirrels?

Hongya, as a big forest farm in Sichuan, banned logging many years ago, not only banned logging, but also closed many mines. More than 2,000 square kilometers of land, two thirds of which are sparsely populated, are still virgin forests. There are more than 10 giant pandas, as well as other first-and second-class protected animals, various plants, Thoreau and so on. I'm from there. Anyway, I have never seen squirrels in my twenties, but there are all kinds of animals on the mountain, and no one catches them. Squirrels may flood in places where no one is there.

2017165438+129 October, the Forestry Department of Sichuan Province announced the results of the third general survey of forestry pests in the province. The four-year investigation shows that there are 6448 species of forest pests in the province, including 6 species of harmful pika/kloc-0. Although the proportion of species is very small, the red-bellied squirrel is one of the 56 pests in Sichuan, which has a large occurrence area and serious harm. According to the information released by the forestry department, the areas of Cryptomeria fortunei, Cunninghamia lanceolata and Ginkgo biloba plantations on the western edge of Deyang, Chengdu, Meishan, Leshan and Ya 'an basins are endangered by red-bellied squirrels and black-bellied miletus year by year, and some places are seriously affected. Hongya Forest Farm has encouraged nearby residents to kill red-bellied squirrels at the purchase price of 4 yuan for each squirrel's tail, and the local area has also introduced various dishes of squirrel meat game. Experts in the field of ecological control in Sichuan University also participated in the related management work. The mousetraps and squirrels' stomach poison sterile drugs in Hongya Forest Farm are under intense deployment. Squirrels such as red-bellied squirrels are protected in most cities, but the trees in Hongya, Sichuan Province have been severely damaged and have to be killed artificially to balance the local species.

Simple and rude practices cannot effectively protect forests and endangered animals. There used to be pandas, golden monkeys and crested ibis. Not protected by law, but later they were cherished beyond measure. The world is on the verge of extinction, and there are still many places like Sichuan. It is necessary to conduct scientific and reasonable research and management so that trees and squirrels can grow moderately. Don't spend 19/20 years legislating for protection like a giant panda.