Going to Market

My colleagues brought me to various markets so I could search out how live birds are kept and sold. One market had a few ducks and chickens for sale but that was all. We continued on and visited three more markets and there were no domestic ducks or chickens for sale either. The only live animals for sale were lots of pet birds, amphibians, and reptiles along with flowers, and vegetables.

Happily, I did not witness anything like the wet markets my colleagues have warned me about in more rural areas where carcasses, blood and feces are strewn about causing an unpleasant sensory overload. My initial thought was that Shanghai was simply a more modern city and different than the local markets in more rural parts of China.

The only live poultry I witnessed were cages filled with cute baby chicks and ducklings and while these birds could certainly play a role in avian influenza the conditions the are living in were very clean and well-maintained. Ideally, the chicks should be kept separate from the ducklings. I couldn't help take this snapshot and I was scolded for doing so by one of the employees. 

My first trip to China has been eye opening, my meetings are all going well and I learned today that we might gain access to a newly established nature reserve on an island just off the coast of Shanghai called Jiuduansha.  It is closed to the public and would be an excellent and pristine environment for research. It's not official yet, but it looks very promising for Wildlife Trust's future work in the Far East.

Reporting from China, Wildlife Trust scientist Kurt Vandegrift is working toward monitoring highly pathogenic Avian influenza in wild migratory waterfowl.