Tianjin clears illegal nets to save migrating birds

TIANJIN -- Bird protection volunteers and local authorities in east China's Tianjin Municipality cleared over 10,000 meters of illegal mist nets on the coast and rescued more than 3,000 birds during last week's holiday.

Many migratory birds make a stopover in Tianjin in Autumn and illegal netting has become a serious problem.

"We have patrolled the coast and found these nets. We found other nets in past years but not so many," said Wang Jianmin, a volunteer.

The nets are concealed in reed beds. Different kinds of birds, including nine protected Oriental Scops Owls, were trapped. Many were found dead in the nets.

During the holiday, 50 volunteers and four teams from Tianjin Binhai New Area commission of rural affairs patrolled the coast. On Tuesday, a suspect was caught by police.

Almost all of the nets in Tianjin have now been cleared.

Police also found a den selling birds on the border of Tianjin and Hebei Province and seized 36,000 live birds, which have since been released.