"Since last week several swans have died of thirst, and the number is increasing as the weather gets ice-cold," said Yuan Xueshun, director of Weihai Swan Protection Association.
 
For the past 30 years, Yuan has been a full-time swan watcher. He lives only a kilometer away from Rongcheng Swan Lake in east China's Shandong Province.

"The swans live in this place. They have been standing here and waiting for fresh water for several days. They just won't leave their home," Yuan said.

Construction near the lake in the past four years is blamed for the lack of water, said the local Qilu Evening Newspaper.

Pine trees and reeds surround the renowned Rongcheng Swan Lake, and it contains a variety of small fish, insects and aquatic plants that swans eat. Nearby, 70 hectares of natural sand and mud wetlands have always ensured a reserve of fresh water. The wetlands are also a rich source of algae and crustaceans on which the swans feed.

Each November, the swans come from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Russia's Siberia to spend their winter at the lake.

In 1992, more than 6,000 swans migrated to Rongcheng. The number was down to 400 last year and is about 600 now.

Over the past several years, a series of "swan lake comprehensive development" projects have destroyed the natural environment, the local paper said.

Silt at the bottom of the lake was dug out, making it difficult for the swans to find food. The black silt from the lake was randomly piled up to heights of more than two meters on the nearby wetlands.

Rongcheng's forestry department said on Thursday that it is trying to introduce fresh water to save the swans.

(China Daily November 26, 2004)