JINAN – A group of critically endangered wild ducks has been spotted in a lake in east China’s Shandong Province, marking the species’ single largest population ever recorded in the country.

More than 1,500 ducks of the Baer’s pochard, a type of diving duck, were spotted in the Dongping Lake and Dawen River near the Taishan Mountain, a popular UNESCO World Heritage site. A species under first-class state protection in China, these ducks were spotted by local birders from Dongping County in the city of Tai’an.

The Baer’s pochard mainly inhabits China, Mongolia and Bangladesh. It is listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The number of such ducks recorded this time has exceeded the total number recorded in the entire country in 2020, which indicates the improvement of the ecological environment in Taishan Mountain area.