XN000022-1979-03-24 — Page 7

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SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1979

+HOW FITTING IT IS THAT 100 YEARS AGO THE PO LEUNG KUK WAS ESTABLISHED TO TAKE CARE OF THE YOUNG AND INNOCENT WHO WERE MISUSED OR ABUSED BY SOCIETY AND NOW IT HAS CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS WHICH WILL AGAIN PROVIDE AN ESCAPE AND A HAVEN FOR MANY PEOPLE FROM THE PRESSURES OF MODERN LIFE.

*THE KUK HAS KEPT TO THE AIMS FOR WHICH IT WAS ESTABLISHED AND HAS KEPT PACE WITH THE MARCH OF TIME, HE NOTED.

WHITE-NAPED CRANES SEIZED

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THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT IS CONTINUING ITS INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE IMPORTATION AND POSSESSION OF THE 14 RARE WHITE-NAPED CRANES SEIZED LAST WEEK FROM AN ANIMAL TRADER'S STORE.

MONG KOK POLICE AND OFFICERS FROM THE DEPARTMENT SEIZED DOCUMENTS AND FILES RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE OF ENDANGERED ANIMALS ON THURSDAY AFTER A THREE-HOUR SEARCH IN THE ANIMAL TRADER'S PREMISES IN KOWLOON.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY (SATURDAY) THE 14 RARE BIRDS, WORTH ABOUT $350,000, WERE DISCOVERED IN THE PREMISES DURING A ROUTINE INSPECTION BY THE DEPARTMENT'S OFFICERS.

+THE LIVE BIRDS WERE SEIZED UNDER THE ANIMALS AND PLANTS (PROTECTION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES) ORDINANCE WHICH PROHIBITS THE IMPORT AND POSSESSION OF THE SPECIES, UNLESS COVERED BY A LICENCE ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT, HE SAID.

+ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION IN

WISCONSIN, U.S.A., THERE ARE LESS THAN 2,500 WHITE-NAPED CRANES IN THE WILD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

+THE SPECIES IS ALSO LISTED IN APPENDIX I OF THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA WHICH PROHIBITS THE TRADE OF SUCH WILD ANIMALS, BIRDS AND PLANTS,+ THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

+THE WHITE-NAPED CRANE'S BREEDING GROUNDS ARE IN SIBERIA, MONGOLIA AND NORTH CHINA. ABOUT 1,500 BIRDS MIGRATE TO KOREA IN LATE OCTOBER WHERE THEY FEED PRIMARILY ON TUBERS OF A SEDGE WHICH GROW IN THE COASTAL WETLANDS. MANY MOVE ON TO JAPAN AND RETURN TO THEIR BREEDING GROUNDS IN SPRING,+ HE SAID.

THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT MADE TWO PREVIOUS SEIZURES OF WHITE-NAPED CRANES IN FEBRUARY 1977 AND SIX OF THESE BIRDS WERE SENT TO THE BREEDING CENTRE OPERATED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION.