STORY: Rare oriental white stork gets beak transplant in NE China
DATELINE: Aug. 31, 2023
LENGTH: 0:00:58
LOCATION: HARBIN, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the injured oriental white stork under medical treatment
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese): ZHU BAOGUANG, Staff member of Honghe National Nature Reserve
3. various of the oriental white stork being sent to the wild

STORYLINE:

An injured oriental white stork with a broken beak was brought to the Honghe National Nature Reserve in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province for surgery recently. 

SOUNDBITE (Chinese): ZHU BAOGUANG, Staff member of Honghe National Nature Reserve
"To rescue this oriental stork, we considered multiple options, and the best one was to provide it with an artificial beak as soon as possible. Thus, we reached out to a company specializing in simulated specimens and customized a lifelike beak for it. Without a lower beak, it couldn't peck food properly, making it unable to survive in the wild."

The bird was sent back to the wild after medical treatment.

The oriental white stork is a migratory bird species under China's first-class national protection.

Known as "giant panda in birds," it is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Harbin, China.
(XHTV)