A record 2,898 black-necked cranes have arrived at the Caohai National Nature Reserve in Weining county of Bijie, Guizhou province, to spend the winter. [Photo by Zhao Guoping/For chinadaily.com.cn]
A record 2,898 black-necked cranes have arrived at the Caohai National Nature Reserve in Weining county of Bijie, Guizhou province, to spend the winter, local government monitoring data released showed on Wednesday.
The number of family groups with chicks has risen sharply this season, indicating robust reproductive success.
The black-necked crane is endemic to the country's highlands and depends on specific wetland and grassland habitat conditions.
A record 2,898 black-necked cranes have arrived at the Caohai National Nature Reserve in Weining county of Bijie, Guizhou province, to spend the winter. [Photo by Zhao Guoping/For chinadaily.com.cn]
Every year in early November, the cranes leave breeding grounds in Sichuan, Gansu and other provinces and fly south to Caohai to overwinter. They return north in March.
Caohai, the province's largest natural plateau freshwater lake, is shallow and supports rich biodiversity, which makes it one of the cranes' main wintering sites.
Thanks to a restoration program launched in 2015, the wintering population at Caohai has, in recent years, remained above 2,000.
A record 2,898 black-necked cranes have arrived at the Caohai National Nature Reserve in Weining county of Bijie, Guizhou province, to spend the winter. [Photo by Zhao Guoping/For chinadaily.com.cn]
A record 2,898 black-necked cranes have arrived at the Caohai National Nature Reserve in Weining county of Bijie, Guizhou province, to spend the winter. [Photo by Zhao Guoping/For chinadaily.com.cn]
A record 2,898 black-necked cranes have arrived at the Caohai National Nature Reserve in Weining county of Bijie, Guizhou province, to spend the winter. [Photo by Zhao Guoping/For chinadaily.com.cn]
