Context

• Arunachal Pradesh’s border district of Tawang celebrates the arrival of sacred black-headed cranes to their winter grounds.
• Tawang’s Pangcheng valley along the Nyamjang Chhu River is their winter abode.

About

Black necked crane

• It is a medium-sized craneof Asia that breeds on the Tibetan Plateau and remote parts of India and Bhutan.
• It is revered in Buddhist traditions and culturally protected across much of its range.
• A festival in Bhutan celebrates the bird while the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir considers it as the state bird.

Distribution and Habitat-

• The crane breeds and winters in Xinjang, Tibet, Qinghai and Sichuan in China and Jammu & Kashmir in India.
• In Yunnan, Guizhou, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, it only comes during the winters.
• In Arunachal Pradesh, the bird winters in three areas: the Sangti valley in West Kameng district, and Zemithang and the Chug valley in Tawang district.
• The cranes usually arrive in all three areas in late October or early November, and depart in late March or early April. 
• The largest populations are in China with smaller numbers extending into Vietnam, Bhutan and India.

Protection-

• The bird is protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and is in the ‘vulnerable category’ of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources(IUCN)
• It is listed in Appendix I of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES) also known as the Washington Convention.

Threat-

• Habitat modification, drying of lakes and agriculture are threats to the populations.
• In many areas, dogs belonging to herders are a major threat to young birds.
• Power lines has been another cause of mortality in some areas.
• The drying of wetlands can cause increased accessibility of the nests leading to predation while a rise in the water level can submerge nests.
• The problems are most serious in the wintering areas, where wetlands are extensively affected by human activity including irrigation, dam construction, draining, and grazing pressure.
• In Tibet, widespread changes in traditional agricultural practices have reduced the availability of waste barley and spring wheat.

Measures or Safeguards-

• Supporting pilot projects to reduce degradation around key wetlands through alternative livelihoods and agriculture practices.
• Undertaking long-term monitoring of selected breeding areas to assess the impacts of climate change on cranes and key wetlands, and to develop measures for adaptation to climate change.
• Strengthening environmental education efforts and community awareness.