A researcher installs an infrared camera. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

Hangzhou — capital of East China's Zhejiang province — now hosts 696 terrestrial wild vertebrate species, accounting for 84 percent of the province's total, according to a five-year citywide survey released on Sept 15.

The figure marks a 45.3 percent increase from the first survey in 2005, reflecting the city's major progress in biodiversity conservation.

The survey — covering forests, wetlands, farmland and urban green spaces across Hangzhou's 13 subordinate regions — identified 42 amphibians, 70 reptiles, 99 mammals and 485 bird species. Among them were 144 nationally protected species, including the Chinese pangolin, hairy-fronted muntjac, sika deer and the oriental stork.

In particular, a new mammal species — the small-bodied eastern forest hedgehog — was discovered in the city's Lin'an district, along with 215 new records, including nine provincial firsts.

Researchers attributed the surge in findings to advanced monitoring technologies such as infrared cameras, DNA sequencing and geographic information systems — as well as Hangzhou's sustained ecological protection efforts, with the forest coverage now exceeding 65 percent.

An eastern forest hedgehog, a new mammal species discovered in the Lin'an district of Hangzhou. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]