KUNMING — Forest police from Hongtupo township, Southwest China's Yunnan province, recently finished their annual patrol of a famed stopover site and habitat for migratory birds in the Ailao Mountain area.

Officers with the forest police station of Hongtupo, Nanhua county, enter forests in the Nanhua area of the Ailao Mountain national nature reserve every September and remain there until the following February, says Zhang Yueping, an instructor with the police station.

During their stay, the officers patrol the forests in Dazhong Mountain, deep in the Ailao area to prevent poaching and other wildlife crimes.

The Hongtupo forest police station, known as "a migratory police station", was established in 1984 in response to rampant illegal poaching on the mountain. A huge variety of wildlife was hunted to near extinction, according to Zhang.

The police station got off to a rough start, with no running water, no phone service, and significant challenges in the delivery of supplies. Initially, the officers had no option but to live in tents.

It was not until 2010 that a house was built for the officers at the foot of Dazhong Mountain.

Over nearly four decades, forest police in Hongtupo have endured all kinds of harsh conditions to protect wildlife in the mountain.

"Skin peeling after bad sunburn, frostbite, sleeping for half a month under a moldy blanket, hearing bears growl at night. ...We've seen it all," says Zhou Piyin, former head of the police station, who worked at the station for eight years.

To avoid spooking poachers, the officers try not to make a sound or use a flashlight during their patrol.

"I remember one night, we saw a fire in the distance. As we crept there, I missed my step and fell into a deep ditch," says officer Yang Zhengqiang.

"When I came around, I found myself surrounded by graves, and a little further from where I was lying, there was a cliff."

Arduous as the journey has been, generations of protection efforts have paid off.

Since 2019, zero cases of poaching have been reported. Villagers have also stepped up and created their own forest protection squad.

Over the years, the forests have seen a growing number of birds. During the migration season, birds can be seen flying right over people's heads.

"In October, there are birds all over the mountain, which is quite splendid," says Liu Yan, a female officer with the police station.

As the ecosystem improves, Zhang says, the police station has been relocated outside the forests to the town, and officers are sent to carry out patrols in the forests during the migration season.