Status
The estimated total population of the species is only 2,750 in the wild, including about 1,000 birds in the resident Japanese population. Of the migratory populations, about 1,000 winter in China (mainly at the Yellow River delta and Yancheng Coastal Wetlands), and the remaining winter in Korea.
The National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ran a program where U.S. zoos donated eggs which were flown to Russia and raised in the Khinganski Nature Reserve and released into the wild. This program sent 150 eggs between 1995-2005. The program has been put on hold in order to concentrate on different crane conservation programs in Russia, such as education and fire suppression (Red-crowned Crane SSP). Several hundred Red-crowned Cranes are kept in zoos around the world. Assuredly, the international efforts of Russia, China, Japan and Korea are needed to keep the species from extinction. The most pressing threat is habitat destruction, with a general lack of remaining pristine wetland habitats for the species to nest in. In Japan, there is little proper nesting habitat and the local breeding population is close to the saturation point.
Read more about this topic: Red-crowned Crane
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