Red-crowned Crane at Paignton Zoo, Devon
Class: Birds
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Gruidae
This crane’s natural breeding habitat is wide-open pristine wetlands in north-eastern China, north-eastern Mongolia and Siberia, Russia.
They eat insects, aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians, small rodents, reeds, grasses, berries and other plants.
Conservation
The red-crowned crane is said to be the second-rarest crane in the world. It is an endangered species, with only 1,830 adults in the wild. The most obvious reason is loss of habitat, as the wetlands where these cranes’ breed are shrinking and are now often too small to sustain the species.