Liu Yidan

A wildlife conservation enthusiast from north China's Tianjin municipality who has lead a team of volunteers across the country to carry out patrols and dismantle poaching nets recently appealed to the public to pay more attention to the protection of birds.
Liu Yidan, along with her volunteer team, regularly patrols the grasslands of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to protect larks in the area.
It always upsets her to see the empty bird's nest left after the nestlings are stolen, she says.
Over the past years, Liu has been to many bird markets, where she often saw larks, which are popular among bird keepers. She always asked about the origin of these larks.
Later, she learned that the grassland was the home to the species, so she arranged a special patrol.
Larks are renowned for their sweet singing voices. Some of them can sell for several thousand yuan, and some even more. That is why so many bird traders travel long distances to find the animals on the grasslands.
Liu said police had filed cases against people who illegally sold larks after receiving tip offs.
Liu was forced to take the road of bird protection herself in 2014 after experiencing the helplessness of buying birds to set them free, only to find that they got caught again by bird traders .
Since then, she vowed to tear down all the bird nets in the world and fight poachers to the end.
According to Liu, Tianjin is a transit point for migratory birds in China, but it is also a place where migratory birds often disappear, because there are lots of bird nets around Tianjin and Tangshan, a city in north China's Hebei Province.
Therefore, she and her husband first started to dismantle nets in Tianjin.
Up till now, through the joint efforts of bird protection volunteers, the public security department has dismantled more than 10,000 meters of nets and rescued thousands of live creatures.
"We have few hands, but we have done a lot," said Liu.
Meanwhile, Liu and her team have actively sought help from Forest Public Security Bureau and Industrial and Commercial Bureau to bring illegal bird peddlers to justice.
While they have to travel extensively around the country, the financial support for Liu and other bird guards come chiefly from donations. Liu raised funds for volunteers through a public welfare platform, and via WeChat social media groups.
Last November, Liu and her team registered for a public account in WeChat called "Yidan Wildlife Conservation Attack Force" to report on the progress of their work.
Now, she and her team members have traveled all over the country, engaging in bird-saving. In parallel to dismantling bird nets, they have made secret visits to bird markets, reported illegal bird trafficking, and carried out publicity on caring for and protecting birds.
"The green mountains are inseparable from wild animals. If you really love birds, let them go back to the nature," said Liu.  

A bird saved by Liu Yidan