Researchers have discovered a family of three black-necked cranes at a wetland in northwest China’s Gansu Province.
This marked the first time these rare high-plateau birds had been found breeding in a low-altitude area.
The cranes were; a male, a female and a chick and were spotted at a wetland by the Hulu River in Guazhou County in the city of Jiuquan, at an altitude of 1,320 meters, according to a team engaged in wildlife biodiversity monitoring and protection at Lanzhou University.
Zhang Lixun, who headed the team, said the species traditionally reproduced in plateau wetlands at an altitude of over 2,000 meters.
The captured image of the crane chick, which was too young to have migrated from elsewhere, had proved that the species reproduced at the relatively low altitude area, said Zhang.
A species under China’s first-class national protection, black-necked cranes mainly live in meadows, wetlands and lakes in the highlands of China, India, Bhutan and Nepal.
According to a national survey in 2022, the population of black-necked cranes in China exceeds 16,000.
They mainly reproduced in provincial-level areas of Gansu, Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang. (Xinhua/NAN)