Black-necked cranes appear at Napahai Nature Reserve in SW China's Yunnan

Black-necked cranes are seen at the Napahai Nature Reserve, a wetland of international importance in Shangri-La city, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo/Chen Zhiming)

Five black-necked cranes appeared at the Napahai Nature Reserve, a wetland of international importance in Shangri-La city, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Oct. 9.

This means the wetland welcomed this year's first batch of black-necked cranes that will overwinter here.

The wetland is a major wintering habitat for migratory black-necked cranes. The monitoring results in recent years indicated that black-necked cranes usually begin to migrate to the wetland in late September or early October to overwinter, and leave in May the next year.

Black-necked cranes wintering at the wetland have been steadily increasing over the years. During the 2022-2023 wintering season, they have ballooned in the area to 510.

The monitoring results also showed that some black-necked cranes inhabit at the wetland in summer, which indicated the continuous improvements in the wetland's ecology.