The 19th Big Bird Race was held over a 24-hour period on March 1. This year there were 16 teams taking part, including two from the Mainland.

The JPC team consisted of the captain, Chief Inspector John Holmes of OPS QRF and JPC members Vincent Lee Chun-man, Lai Man-kit and Stanley Lip Chi-sing.

Wong Tai Sin District Commander Ian Tyzzer coached the JPC team whilst John Ip Kwok-fu, Chief Driving Examiner at the Police Driving School, drove the team to the various locations using a van supplied by the team's corporate sponsors.

The team was placed 11th by identifying a total of 127 species of bird (by sight and by sound - bird calls), the highest total of birds identified by a JPC team. The Race was won jointly by the "Wandering Tattlers" and the "Professionals" teams, who each identified 147 species.

More importantly, the JPC team raised over $103,000 for the WWF and had over 500 individual sponsors. This represents 25 per cent of the total funds raised by all teams this year and the number of sponsors is greater than the combined total of the other teams.

"This represents a tremendous achievement and shows, once again, how generous people in the Force are when called upon. The team extends its thanks to all sponsors - big and small alike," Mr Tyzzer said.