| Black-necked cranes fly in Dashan National Nature Reserve in Zhaotong City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on February 25, 2009. Some 1,400 black-necked cranes spent their winter here from the end of 2008 to early 2009, which hit a historical record. Established in 2003, the reserve is one of the country's largest protected areas for the black-necked cranes, which is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. The estimated population of the species is between 5,600 and 6,000 individuals. (Xinhua) |
