[Video provided to gojilin.gov.cn] 

A Chinese merganser swims in a river in the Changbai Mountains Scenic Area in Jilin province. [Photo/Changbaishan Release]

Chinese mergansers, an endangered species of bird, have been spotted in the Changbai Mountains Scenic Area in Northeast China's Jilin province, after they arrived from the south where they had spent the winter.

The Chinese merganser is an ancient species that survived the ice age. It is a national first-class protected animal and is listed as an endangered species by the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The quiet and lush Changbai Mountains forest and valley ecosystem is regarded as being highly suitable for Chinese merganser ducks to find food, build nests and reproduce.

In recent years, the Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone has also increased its protection of the Chinese merganser and conducted research about the species.

In the waters where the Chinese mergansers often appear, measures such as hanging artificial nests and placing live fish at fixed points have created optimal conditions for the Chinese mergansers to reproduce.