Pranto Rishat Ibtisham takes photos of birds at the Gaoyou Lake Reed Marshes Wetland. [Photo/Yangzhou Daily]

Pranto Rishat Ibtisham, a Bangladeshi student at Yangzhou University, became the first foreign member of a bird protection volunteer team in Gaoyou, a county-level city in Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu province on March 28.

The volunteer team, formed by the city's branch of the State Grid and wetland preservation center, is aimed at protecting Oriental storks, a bird species under first-class national protection, while ensuring the normal operation of power transmission lines. The team currently has more than 70 members.

Ibtisham then visited Dachang village in Jieshou town, a major habitat for Oriental storks in China, and the Gaoyou Lake Reed Marshes Wetland to watch the birds.

"I will do my part to protect wildlife and make Yangzhou a better place for Oriental storks and other birds to live," he said.

Ibtisham has been living in Yangzhou for seven years and is currently doing an internship at the Yangzhou First People's Hospital. He is also a photography enthusiast.