A bird researcher’s pursuit on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Print Edition
YANDAO had never been to Qinghai-Tibet Plateau before he joined an observation team on China’s second scientific expedition to the plateau in June.
The 35-year-old, a member of the Blang ethnic minority, comes from a small village in Xishuangbana in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
After graduating with a degree in zoology from Southwest Forestry University in 2013, he began working as an ornithologist at the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China’s first large-scale scientific expedition on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was conducted in the 1970s. The current second expedition will last five to 10 years, covering more than 50 disciplines including geology, prehistoric life, geophysics, climate, zoology and botany.
Dozens of scientists specializing in different fields have been divided into groups to research the biological diversity of the plateau and draw up a habitat map to be used for preservation and tourism purposes.
When Yandao first arrived in Shuanghu County, Tibet Autonomous Region, with an average altitude of 5,000 meters above sea level, he suffered severe altitude sickness.
Despite feeling unwell, Yandao was excited to begin working with his colleagues to collect data on local bird species.
“I am so lucky to have the chance to join this expedition,” says Yandao.
After years of research, he commands an extensive knowledge of birds and can identify some 500 species just from their songs.
“The unique alpine environment with thin oxygen and intense ultraviolet light is a habitat for several distinct species, some of which I have never seen before,” Yandao says.
The bird population can be seen as barometer for the region’s environmental changes and will attract more bird-watchers to visit, he says.
Yandao’s parents were initially not supportive of his choice of work.
“They hoped I would get a stable job in an office, but I just want to have freedom like the birds I study,” he says.
In recent years, Yandao’s research has taken him to almost every prefecture and city in Yunnan tracking bird populations by means of regular surveys. In 2015, he joined an international team conducting a bird survey in Kenya.
Yandao is always in the field looking for new information and changes, says Yang Xiaojun, his colleague on the expedition team.
“The appeal of scientific expeditions is to explore new things, which has become my lifelong pursuit,” Yandao says.
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