Ten black-necked cranes in the Dashanbao nature reserve will soon be chipped with satellite signal generators. The generators will send real-time data disclosing the cranes' migration and breeding habits.
Located west of Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, the Dashanbao nature reserve is home to over 1,000 black-necked cranes that make up a sixth of the world's black-necked crane population, and 25 percent of all cranes found in China. Much of the reserve is 3,000 meters above sea level.
The black-necked cranes inhabit the reserve from late October to late April every year. However, little is known about the cranes' migration and breeding patterns.
In a bid to understand and learn more about these magnificent birds, the Yunnan Provincial Forestry Bureau, the Kunming Institute of Zoology, and the International Crane Foundation have collaborated to study the birds and to learn how they survive the winters in the Dashanbao Mountain. This is the first time that satellite technology will be used to study cranes in China. The study is expected to last until 2006.
According to Zhong Xingyao, director of the reserve, students from the local schools around the Dashanbao Mountain areas will also be roped in as volunteers.
Based on the results of the study, relevant protection measures will be mapped out by wild animal protection institutes.
The world's black-necked crane population is estimated at 5,600 to 6,000. The species' breeding range includes much of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China, with a small breeding population that can be found across the border in Ladakh, India. Winter migration destinations include the lower elevations of the Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus in China, and Bhutan.
The Dashanbao Black-necked Crane Nature Reserve was set up in 1990, and covers an area of 19,200 hectares. Another nature reserve for black-necked cranes was established in Weining in neighboring Guizhou Province in 1985. It was upgraded into a state-level reserve in 1992.
(China.org.cn by Unisumoon, February 12, 2005)
