Research on the Black-necked Crane-Series of Research Books on Key Protected Wild Animals of China

The Black-Necked Crane (Grus nigricollis), one of 15 species of cranes in the world, is inhabiting some of the worls’s more remote areas. The Black-Necked Crane was not known to the scientific community until 1876. Its range covers N25 ～39 and E78 ～105 , stretching from the Altun and Kunlun Mountain ranges east to the Qilian and Wumeng Mountain ranges and south to Himalayas. Geographically, these areas show dramatic variations in elevation, ranging from 2000～4000 meters for the Black-Necked Crane’s wintering grounds to 2500～5000 meters for its breeding grounds. As of 2004, the world population of Black-Necked Crane was estimated between 8100 to 8300, including 7700～7900 in China , 400 in Bhutan, and small numbers breeding in Ladakh. Due to the geographic and political inaccessibility across much of its range, this species was the least known crane species until the 1980’s. In the past 20 years, significant research and surveys have been conducted. Large wintering and breeding populations have been discovered in Tibet and northern Sichuan. And, the use of wintering habitat has been studied in Guizhou and south-central Tibet, and studies of migration have been conducted in the eastern portion of its range. In addition, captive breeding, and some biochemistry and physiology have been studied.
This book was written based on our multi-year research and conservation, and information collected from the literatures of China and other countries which was related to the Black-Necked Crane research . Text in Chinese with an English Abstract