China has launched its first ever observation of black-necked cranes with satellite remote sensing technology in a bid to better protect the rare bird species.
The surveillance will be carried out on 10 chosen black-necked cranes spending winter at the Dashanbao Black-Necked Crane National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province over the next three years, according to the provincial forestry administration. The study is aimed to learn the migratory route of black-necked cranes and the places they stay, their retention cycle and their locations of reproduction, said Li Fengshan, a member of the International Crane Fund who takes charge of crane protection in China.
The endangered black-necked crane is the only one of 15 crane species that inhabits in tablelands. Its tall and beautiful figuremakes it valuable for bird-watching and scientific research.
The black-necked cranes in China mainly live in Tibet and Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.
Dashanbao Black-Necked Crane National Nature Reserve, in Zhaotong City of Yunnan, covers 192 square kilometers. Within its boundary, the altitude varies from 2,210 to 3,364 meters above sealevel. An estimated 1,100 black-necked cranes, or one sixth of itspopulation in the world, spend about 200 winter days at the reserve each year.
There are around 6,000 black-necked cranes in the world, 4,000 of which live in China.