This swan, apparently poisoned by poachers, was found on the shores of the Poyang Lake on January 4, 2009. [Jiangnan City Daily]

In Changyi Township barbed wire fences are set up deliberately to capture swans. Fishermen said there are sometimes more than 100 wire fences, stretching scores of kilometers.

As winter draws in and the lake freezes, the birds come ashore to live around the village. Here they are easy prey for people with scatter guns. A single shot can bring down dozens of birds.

Furious at the slaughter, Huang Xianyin joined a team set up in 2004 to protect migratory birds. However, it resulted in threats to him and his family.

During the two days the reporter spent with Huang, there were several attempted attacks on him carried out by local fish-farmers who have concessions around the lake. The fish breeders told the reporter that they do not poison wild birds and insisted that someone was trying to discredit them.

Huang Xianyin, a conservationist from Henghu Township, carries the bodies of two dead swans and four wild ducks killed by poachers near the shores of the Poyang Lake, January 4, 2009. [Jiangnan City Daily]

Huang's unpaid conservation work has come at a heavy cost to him and his family. His farmland has been taken from him and rented to others, and he now relies entirely on the support of his parents. His 15-year-old son, who studies in a middle school in Xinjian County, has been bullied. "I have obviously offended a lot of people. I can look after myself, but my son has no escape. I have told him to take care and call 110 if he has a problem," said Huang.