Saving Spoonie

“Spoonie,” the spoon-billed sandpiper, would have gone extinct long ago without Dr. Christoph Zöckler and a dedicated international group of ornithologists. As if that weren’t bad enough in itself, the flight path of this sparrow-sized wading bird, with its peculiar spoon-shaped beak, runs from Russia through North Korea and China to Myanmar, taking it right through the crisis regions of the past decade. The task force’s work unexpectedly becomes a political challenge and a diplomatic balancing act involving Russians, Germans, Chinese, British, and other members of the Flyway.
While an ambitious breeding attempt in England threatens to fail, the spoon-billed sandpiper achieves unexpected popularity in China. Affectionately called “Spoonie” by its fans, it becomes the poster child of a burgeoning Chinese environmental movement. But while its fame continues to grow, the number of actual birds in existence continues to decline dramatically, despite global efforts. Thus, the eccentric bird lovers debate whether there are still one, two, or—as optimists believe—three hundred breeding pairs left in the world.
And so, this tragicomedy about Spoonie’s fate reflects the struggle to preserve endangered biodiversity in a world that has become fragile.