Dashanbao makes paradise for cranes to spend winter

Flocks of black-necked cranes were seen spending winter at the Dashanbao nature reserve in northeast Yunnan’s Zhaotong city on January 3. They presented visitors a unique sight: lovely birds gliding on high plateau.

The black-necked crane is native to the Qinghai-Tibetan region, but it prefers to winter in the less cold areas like Dashanbao. Thanks to efforts by local conservationists, the number of black-cranes in the Dahsnbao reserve has increased from 200 in 1990 to a record high of 2,342 in November 2023.

As a major gene pool on the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau, the Dashanbao swamp plays a key role in protecting the wintering wild species, the subalpine bio-diversity and the eco-shield along the upper reach of Yangtze.

Source: Yunnan Daily; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue