A black-necked crane is spotted in Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Nov. 27, 2019. (Photo provided to Xinhua)
Beautiful Nujiang River area in SW China attracts a rare black-necked crane for winter migration.
KUNMING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- A black-necked crane, under the top protection in China, has been spotted on a grassland in a nature reserve in the Nujiang River area in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
The rare bird was spotted by a camera at an altitude of about 1,800 meters in Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve. It was the first time that the black-necked crane was captured on camera in the Nujiang River area, according to staff with the nature reserve.
"Black-necked cranes are migratory birds. They migrate from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds every winter," said Wu Fei, a researcher with the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
There were about 5,000 to 6,000 black-necked cranes worldwide in the 1990s, said Wu, adding that the number has increased to over 10,000 nowadays.
Authorities with the reserve said they will increase the daily patrols to better observe and protect the rare migratory birds.
A black-necked crane is spotted in Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve in the Nujiang River area in southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Nov. 27, 2019. (Photo provided to Xinhua)
Black-necked cranes inhabit meadows, wetlands, and lakes at an altitude of 2,500 to 5,000 meters. They mainly live in the highlands of China, India, Bhutan and Nepal.
The species is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. ■
