Rare Fowl Spotted in China's Shanxi

A brown-eared pheasant looks for food on Shibi Mountain in Jiaocheng County, north China's Shanxi Province, on Oct. 12, 2018. (Xinhua/Mei Yongcun)

 An infrared camera recently captured images of a group of brown-eared pheasants foraging in a nature reserve in north China's Shanxi Province.

The staff at the Guantou Mountain Nature Reserve said that a total of 10 brown-eared pheasants were spotted.

The species is under state top-level protection. It has dark brown feathers on most of its body and white feathers on its tail. They mainly live in mountainous areas in Hebei, Shanxi and around Beijing.

It was the first time that 10 brown-eared pheasants were found in the nature reserve, according to the staff.

"The number of wildlife has been increasing since the nature reserve has strengthened protection measures and forest coverage rates have increased," said Yang Xinyuan, a staffer of the nature reserve.

Located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the second-longest river of China, the nature reserve has seen a wider variety of wild animals including wild boars, forest musk deer and leopard cats.