20,000 birds caught with MP3 recording  

村民用MP3播鸟语“求偶”诱捕2万野鸟(图)

6月3日，徐州沛县公安局治安大队民警王勤飞介绍称，当地多名村民在一微山湖畔用MP3、音响播放鸟语，传出的“求偶声”诱捕候鸟，3个月时间共捉到两万多只野生黑水鸡、猫头鹰、苍鹭等。在抓捕嫌疑人过程中，警方现场放生766只野鸟。[查看全文]

Popular MP3 music players have recently been utilized by villagers to lure and catch over 20,000 bird by means of bird courtship sounds.

Police from Peixian, Jiangsu province, arrested nine people last week. The villagers were found with 700 wild waterfowls packed in "cages and ready to be sold in Guangzhou," said police officer Wang Qinfei.

This waterfowl is a wild animal with high economic and scientific research values.

"The loss of 20,000 moorhens will definitely threaten the local species and eco-environment," said Liu Chanmin, an associate professor at the College of Life Science of Jiangsu Normal University.

A villager, surnamed Zhang, downloaded the sound of moorhens onto his MP3 player and then used loudspeakers to attract moorhens in the wild.

It is estimated that Zhang alone has sold over 20,000 moorhens and gained illegal profits up to 30,000 yuan ($4,803).

The villagers arrested are currently being detained, with police still tracing suspects involved in the case.