Black-necked Cranes in Bhutan
Encyclopedia
The Black-necked Cranes in Bhutan (Grus nigricollis) are winter visitors during late October to mid February to the Phobjika Valley
from the Qinghai
-Tibetan Plateau
and Ladakh
, India
, where they breed. They visit the Phobhjikha valley in large numbers, which is a declared protected area for the cranes, and also to other valleys in smaller numbers in central and eastern Bhutan
. On arrival in the Phobhjikha (also called the 'Gangtey Valley') they are seen to circle the Gangteng Monastery (also known as Gangten Gonpa) three times as if they are paying obeisance to the gods in the monastery and repeat this act while returning to Tibet
іn early spring. The Jigme Dorji Wongchuk Sanctuary
, adjoining the Phobjika Valley across the Black Mountains Range
, has within its precincts, the crane wintering area at Bumdeling, which also has been declared a protected area. These cranes known by the binomial name Grus nigricollis and also as Tibetan Crane are categorized as Vulnerable
(Vu) in the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species maintained by the World Conservation Union
(IUCN) under Appendix I and II of CITES. The Black-necked Cranes, the last to be found among the 16 species of cranes, were first identified by Nikolai Przhevalsky
of the Imperial Russian Army
in 1876 in the Tibetan Plateau.
Apart from China and India, Bhutan has taken special care to protect this species and has established the Phobjikha Conservation Area covering 163 square kilometre of the valley under the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN) and for the purpose of conservation management. The conservation area was established by Bhutan in the Phobjika Valley in 2003, and RSPN has the mandate to protect not only the Black-necked Cranes but also 13 other vulnerable species. The cranes, which used to be hunted in Bhutan till 1980 are now totally protected, with the Government of Bhutan enacting a law under which any person killing a crane would invite life term jail sentence.
In Bhutan, the Black-necked Cranes have a celebrity status, as witnessed by the Crane Festival held every year on 12 November, soon after their arrival from the Tibetan Plateau, in the courtyards of the Gangten Gonpa in Phobjika Valley. Many tourists also visit the valley to witness this festival.
Aceros nipalensis, Chestnut-breasted Partridge
Arborophila mandellii, Pallas's Fish-eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus, nuthatch
Sitta Formosa, Wood Snipe
Gallinago nemoricola, Blyth's Tragopan
Tragopan blythii, Greater Spotted Eagle
Aquila clanga, Imperial eagle
Aquila heliaca, Baer's Pochard
Aythya baeri, Hodgson's Bushchat
Saxicola insignis, Dark-rumped Swift
Apus acuticauda, and Grey-crowned Prinia
Prinia cinereocapilla. The Black-necked Cranes arrive in this valley in late October and depart in mid February. They feed on the particular type of dwarf bamboos that grow in the wetlands of the valley. The thick grasslands of wetlands are also grazing grounds for a large number of cattle and horses during the summer months that helps the growth of the tender bamboo shoots on which the cranes feed later during the winter season. There were suggestions that the wetlands be drained and used to grow cash crops such as potatoes, which is also the main crop of the valley. Such an action would have deprived the cranes of their main feeding centres. However, Palje "Benjie" Dorji, former Chief Justice of Bhutan, former Minister for Environment and uncle of the present King of Bhutan, as the Chairman of the Royal Bhutan Society and as founder of the Black-necked Conservation Programme prevailed on the Government of Bhutan to drop the proposal to drain the wetlands of the Phobjika Valley to create farms to grow cash rich seed potatoes.
This crane species is legally protected in Bhutan and its hunting is prohibited. The religious culture of the Buddhists has attracted the cranes closer to the religious communities of Lama
s, particularly in the Phobjikha and Khotokha valleys. Another reason for this is that when the large number of cranes visit these valleys, which are snow bound, the village community, including the Buddhist Lamas migrate to warmer regions to Wangdue Phodrong, thus avoiding a human conflict with the cranes' habitat, which forage in the valleys in marshy lands that are ploughed before winter and that provide insects and plant material and seeds. In these habitats, it is inferred, that livestock also helps by grazing on grass which in turn helps in bamboo regeneration on which the cranes feed.
Another feature noted in Bhutan is the belief among the common people that they are blessed when cranes circle around their valleys. A particular practice observed is that they plant the winter wheat
only after the cranes arrive in their valleys to roost. Bhutanese people sing folk songs as the cranes arrive in Bhutan and also dance in the autumn. They call it as thrung thrung karmo. The religious significance of these cranes is further accentuated in Bhutan by the report that "they mate for life and ...live for 30 or 40 years".
, Punakha Valley
, Bumthang Valley, Jakhar Valley, Samtengang
, Gyetsa
, Khatekha Valley, Gogona
and Wangdi
. However, the Phobjika Valley is one of the two important wintering grounds, where a special protection centre has been established to protect these birds. The number of cranes reported here was 120 in 1986/87. It rose to 219 in November 2000 and is quoted as 270 now.
However, its numbers, reported world wide, is very large (initially it was mentioned as 800 till they found them in very large numbers in China), with a total world population of about 11,000 individuals (mature individuals about 8,800) in the wild, mostly in China including Tibet, about 500 in Bhutan and small numbers at two valleys in Arunachal Pradesh
in India, and a small number in Vietnam
also. There are indications that their number is increasing due to conservation efforts which may eventually result in downgrading its vulnerability to threat to a lower category.
(RSPN) established in 2003, which has the mandate for conservation and nature education has been involved in monitoring the winter visitors to the Phobjika valley and its adjoining Bomdeling Valley. According to recorded information, 141 cranes visit Bomdeling valley (Phobjika reports a count of about 400 now) every year. RSPN has an Information Centre at the Phobjika Valley, which provides information on cranes and the environment of the valley. The information Centre is a very modern decagonal building, next to a stream, with high-tech equipment. There is also a guesthouse for birdwatchers. The Society has also produced a documentary film on the cranes visiting Bhutan every year. Further, in Phubjika the Observation Towers have been so located that they cause the least disturbance to the crane habitats. Tourists are allowed to observe the cranes through the two or three high tech “spotting telescopes’’ and spotted on the watch the behaviour of the crane as described in the RSPN pamphlet titled “Filed Guide to Crane Behaviour”, from a safe distance under the strict supervision of forest officials. Farmers are also advised to replace the barbed wire fencing with wooden and stone fencing to reduce harm to the cranes. Collisions with powerlines cause mortality to many crane species and when electricity was to be provided to the valley, the power cables were laid underground to avoid any mortality. The work was taken up during summer when the birds do not use the area.
Crane population counts are conducted during the winter by the RSPN, the Sherubtse College and the Nature and Trekking Club. A Nature Reserve Centre has also been established at Kibethang, near the Phobjikha wintering grounds with funding provided by WWF
and USA.Although Bhutan's wintering cranes are secure to a great extent, the habitat loss such as in Bumthang and Paro due to development and human settlement chould be a major conservation issue in future.
Phobjika Valley
The Phobjika Valley is a vast U-shaped glacial valley, also known as Gangteng Valley named after the impressive Gangteng Monastery of the Nyingma sect in central Bhutan, where the graceful Black-necked Cranes in Bhutan from the Tibetan Plateau visit the valley during the winter season to roost...
from the Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
-Tibetan Plateau
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai, in addition to smaller portions of western Sichuan, southwestern Gansu, and northern Yunnan in Western China and Ladakh in...
and Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, where they breed. They visit the Phobhjikha valley in large numbers, which is a declared protected area for the cranes, and also to other valleys in smaller numbers in central and eastern Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
. On arrival in the Phobhjikha (also called the 'Gangtey Valley') they are seen to circle the Gangteng Monastery (also known as Gangten Gonpa) three times as if they are paying obeisance to the gods in the monastery and repeat this act while returning to Tibet
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....
іn early spring. The Jigme Dorji Wongchuk Sanctuary
Jigme Dorji National Park
The Jigme Dorji National Park, named after the late Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, is the second-largest National Park of Bhutan. It occupies almost the entire Gasa District, as well as the northern areas of Thimphu District, Paro District, Punakha, and Wangdue Phodrang Districts...
, adjoining the Phobjika Valley across the Black Mountains Range
Black Mountains (Bhutan)
The Black Mountains is a mountain range located in Bhutan. The current Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park was previously the Black Mountains park. Elevations run up to 15145 ft or 4617 meters. -References:...
, has within its precincts, the crane wintering area at Bumdeling, which also has been declared a protected area. These cranes known by the binomial name Grus nigricollis and also as Tibetan Crane are categorized as Vulnerable
Vulnerable species
On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...
(Vu) in the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species maintained by the World Conservation Union
World Conservation Union
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...
(IUCN) under Appendix I and II of CITES. The Black-necked Cranes, the last to be found among the 16 species of cranes, were first identified by Nikolai Przhevalsky
Nikolai Przhevalsky
Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky and Prjevalsky, ; —), was a Russian geographer of Polish background and explorer of Central and Eastern Asia. Although he never reached his final goal, Lhasa in Tibet, he travelled through regions unknown to the west, such as northern Tibet, modern Qinghai and...
of the Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
in 1876 in the Tibetan Plateau.
Apart from China and India, Bhutan has taken special care to protect this species and has established the Phobjikha Conservation Area covering 163 square kilometre of the valley under the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN) and for the purpose of conservation management. The conservation area was established by Bhutan in the Phobjika Valley in 2003, and RSPN has the mandate to protect not only the Black-necked Cranes but also 13 other vulnerable species. The cranes, which used to be hunted in Bhutan till 1980 are now totally protected, with the Government of Bhutan enacting a law under which any person killing a crane would invite life term jail sentence.
In Bhutan, the Black-necked Cranes have a celebrity status, as witnessed by the Crane Festival held every year on 12 November, soon after their arrival from the Tibetan Plateau, in the courtyards of the Gangten Gonpa in Phobjika Valley. Many tourists also visit the valley to witness this festival.
Habitat
The conservation area or habitat in the Phobhjikha Valley, established in 2003 has, not only the Black-necked Cranes, but also 13 other vulnerable species such as Rufous-necked HornbillRufous-necked Hornbill
The Rufous-necked Hornbill is a species of hornbill found in broadleaved forests at altitudes of in Bhutan, north-eastern India, Burma, southern Yunnan, south-eastern Tibet, northern and western Thailand, northern Laos and northern Vietnam. Numbers have declined significantly due to habitat loss...
Aceros nipalensis, Chestnut-breasted Partridge
Chestnut-breasted Partridge
The Chestnut-breasted Partridge is a species of partridge endemic to the eastern Himalayas north of the Brahmaputra, and is known from Bhutan, West Bengal , Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India, Nepal Himalaya and south-east Tibet.It is a distinctive partridge with chestnut breast-band...
Arborophila mandellii, Pallas's Fish-eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus, nuthatch
Nuthatch
The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...
Sitta Formosa, Wood Snipe
Wood Snipe
The Wood Snipe is a species of snipe which breeds in the Himalayas of northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and southern China. In winter, it occurs at lower altitudes in the Himalayas, as a regular visitor in small numbers to north Vietnam...
Gallinago nemoricola, Blyth's Tragopan
Blyth's Tragopan
Blyth’s Tragopan or the Grey-bellied Tragopan is a pheasant that is a vulnerable species.-Distribution and Population:...
Tragopan blythii, Greater Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
The Greater Spotted Eagle , occasionally just called the spotted eagle, is a large bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae...
Aquila clanga, Imperial eagle
Eastern Imperial Eagle
The Eastern Imperial Eagle is a large species of bird of prey that breeds from southeastern Europe to central Asia. Most populations are migratory and winter in northeastern Africa, and southern and eastern Asia. The Spanish Imperial Eagle, found in Spain and Portugal, was formerly lumped with...
Aquila heliaca, Baer's Pochard
Baer's Pochard
Baer's Pochard is a diving duck found in eastern Asia. It breeds in southeast Russia and northeast China, migrating in winter to southern China, Vietnam, Japan, and India. The name commemorates the Estonian naturalist Karl Ernst von Baer.At 41–46 cm, it is similar in size and stance to its...
Aythya baeri, Hodgson's Bushchat
Hodgson's Bushchat
The White-throated Bush Chat, , also known as Hodgson's Bushchat, is an Old World flycatcher in the genus Saxicola....
Saxicola insignis, Dark-rumped Swift
Dark-rumped Swift
The Dark-rumped Swift is a species of swift in the Apodidae family.It is found in Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Thailand.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss....
Apus acuticauda, and Grey-crowned Prinia
Grey-crowned Prinia
The Grey-crowned Prinia is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family.It is found in Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan....
Prinia cinereocapilla. The Black-necked Cranes arrive in this valley in late October and depart in mid February. They feed on the particular type of dwarf bamboos that grow in the wetlands of the valley. The thick grasslands of wetlands are also grazing grounds for a large number of cattle and horses during the summer months that helps the growth of the tender bamboo shoots on which the cranes feed later during the winter season. There were suggestions that the wetlands be drained and used to grow cash crops such as potatoes, which is also the main crop of the valley. Such an action would have deprived the cranes of their main feeding centres. However, Palje "Benjie" Dorji, former Chief Justice of Bhutan, former Minister for Environment and uncle of the present King of Bhutan, as the Chairman of the Royal Bhutan Society and as founder of the Black-necked Conservation Programme prevailed on the Government of Bhutan to drop the proposal to drain the wetlands of the Phobjika Valley to create farms to grow cash rich seed potatoes.
This crane species is legally protected in Bhutan and its hunting is prohibited. The religious culture of the Buddhists has attracted the cranes closer to the religious communities of Lama
Lama
Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
s, particularly in the Phobjikha and Khotokha valleys. Another reason for this is that when the large number of cranes visit these valleys, which are snow bound, the village community, including the Buddhist Lamas migrate to warmer regions to Wangdue Phodrong, thus avoiding a human conflict with the cranes' habitat, which forage in the valleys in marshy lands that are ploughed before winter and that provide insects and plant material and seeds. In these habitats, it is inferred, that livestock also helps by grazing on grass which in turn helps in bamboo regeneration on which the cranes feed.
Another feature noted in Bhutan is the belief among the common people that they are blessed when cranes circle around their valleys. A particular practice observed is that they plant the winter wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
only after the cranes arrive in their valleys to roost. Bhutanese people sing folk songs as the cranes arrive in Bhutan and also dance in the autumn. They call it as thrung thrung karmo. The religious significance of these cranes is further accentuated in Bhutan by the report that "they mate for life and ...live for 30 or 40 years".
Population
Phobjika valley has recorded the maximum number of cranes in Bhutan for several years. Other places in Bhutan where the cranes have been sighted in small numbers are: Bumdeling, Lhuntshi District, Thangmachu, Thangby-Kharsa, Tashi YangtseTashi Yangtse
Trashiyangtse or Tashi Yangtse is a small town in Yangtse Gewog, and the district headquarters of the Trashiyangtse District in eastern Bhutan.Its population in 2005 was 2735. Located in close proximity to Chorten Kora which lies to the west, a dzong was inaugurated in Trashiyangste in 1997...
, Punakha Valley
Punakha
thumb|right|Punakha Dzong and the [[Mo Chhu]]Punakha is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu and it...
, Bumthang Valley, Jakhar Valley, Samtengang
Samtengang
-External links:*...
, Gyetsa
Gyetsa
-External links:*...
, Khatekha Valley, Gogona
Gogona
The gogona is a type of jaw harp, a vibrating reed instrument that is used primarily in the traditional Bihu music in Assam. It is made of a piece of bamboo/horn that has a bifurcation on one end...
and Wangdi
Wangdue Phodrang
Wangdue Phodrang District is a dzongkhag of central Bhutan. This is also the name of the dzong which dominates the district, and the name of the small market town outside the gates of the dzong...
. However, the Phobjika Valley is one of the two important wintering grounds, where a special protection centre has been established to protect these birds. The number of cranes reported here was 120 in 1986/87. It rose to 219 in November 2000 and is quoted as 270 now.
However, its numbers, reported world wide, is very large (initially it was mentioned as 800 till they found them in very large numbers in China), with a total world population of about 11,000 individuals (mature individuals about 8,800) in the wild, mostly in China including Tibet, about 500 in Bhutan and small numbers at two valleys in Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
in India, and a small number in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
also. There are indications that their number is increasing due to conservation efforts which may eventually result in downgrading its vulnerability to threat to a lower category.
Threats
Its habitats in Bhutan, mainly the wetlands, were getting degraded due to agriculture and anthropogenic pressures on its breeding and wintering grounds, causing its numbers to decline, as also in other parts of the world, and was thus declared under the Vulnerable category (C1). The 2006 flood event in Bhutan is said to have affected substantially the crane’s roosting habitat in Bomdeling Wild Life Sanctuary. Increasing number of tourists could be a threat in future unless there is proper regulation.Conservation measures
The conservation measures undertaken in Bhutan to preserve and conserve the cranes are unique; in fact more and more crane habitat areas are being brought under the protected area concept. The Royal Society for Protection of NatureRoyal Society for Protection of Nature, Bhutan
The Royal Society for the Protection of Nature is Bhutan's first and only private nonprofit organization with nation-wide operations...
(RSPN) established in 2003, which has the mandate for conservation and nature education has been involved in monitoring the winter visitors to the Phobjika valley and its adjoining Bomdeling Valley. According to recorded information, 141 cranes visit Bomdeling valley (Phobjika reports a count of about 400 now) every year. RSPN has an Information Centre at the Phobjika Valley, which provides information on cranes and the environment of the valley. The information Centre is a very modern decagonal building, next to a stream, with high-tech equipment. There is also a guesthouse for birdwatchers. The Society has also produced a documentary film on the cranes visiting Bhutan every year. Further, in Phubjika the Observation Towers have been so located that they cause the least disturbance to the crane habitats. Tourists are allowed to observe the cranes through the two or three high tech “spotting telescopes’’ and spotted on the watch the behaviour of the crane as described in the RSPN pamphlet titled “Filed Guide to Crane Behaviour”, from a safe distance under the strict supervision of forest officials. Farmers are also advised to replace the barbed wire fencing with wooden and stone fencing to reduce harm to the cranes. Collisions with powerlines cause mortality to many crane species and when electricity was to be provided to the valley, the power cables were laid underground to avoid any mortality. The work was taken up during summer when the birds do not use the area.
Crane population counts are conducted during the winter by the RSPN, the Sherubtse College and the Nature and Trekking Club. A Nature Reserve Centre has also been established at Kibethang, near the Phobjikha wintering grounds with funding provided by WWF
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
and USA.Although Bhutan's wintering cranes are secure to a great extent, the habitat loss such as in Bumthang and Paro due to development and human settlement chould be a major conservation issue in future.
Festival
A Black-necked Crane festival is held every year in the premises of the Gangteng Monastery on 12 November to welcome the cranes, which start arriving in late October. The festival is attended by a large number of local people. On this occasion, children wearing crane costumes perform choreographed crane dances. During this period, cranes are seen flying at high altitudes over the mountains.See also
- Jigme Singye Wangchuck National ParkJigme Singye Wangchuck National ParkJigme Singye Wangchuck National Park covers an area of in central Bhutan. The Park occupies most of Trongsa District, as well as parts of Sarpang, Tsirang, Wangdue Phodrang, and Zhemgang Districts. Jigme Singye abuts Royal Manas National Park to the southeast...
- Bumdeling Wildlife SanctuaryBumdeling Wildlife SanctuaryThe Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary , which also contains the former Kulong Chu Wildlife Sanctuary, covers in north-eastern Bhutan at elevations between and . The Sanctuary covers most of Trashiyangtse District, including Bumdeling Gewog. The Sanctuary was planned in 1995 and established in 1998...
- Black-necked CraneBlack-necked CraneThe Black-necked Crane is a medium-sized crane that is found on the Tibetan Plateau of Asia. It is 139 cm long with a 235 cm wingspan, and it weighs 5.5 kg . It is whitish-gray, with a black head, red crown patch, black upper neck and legs, and white patch to the rear of the eye...