Siberian Crane

Leucogeranus leucogeranus Status: Critically Endangered Region: Mongolia, China, Russia, Population remaining: Decreasing

Two main populations of the Siberian crane exists: one in East Asia and one in Western and Central Asia. The Eastern population breeds in northeastern Siberia and winters at Poyang Lake in the Lower Yangtze River Basin in China. Only a few cranes make up the Western and Central Asia population and one of them winters along the south coast of the Caspian Sea in Iran. These migratory birds make the longest migrations among cranes and their key stopover sites include north and northwestern regions of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Their numbers declined greatly in the 20th century due to hunting and habitat degradation. There were an estimated 3,200 Siberian cranes in 2010.