This year's first flock of black-necked cranes recently arrived at Ruoergai Marshes National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan province, after a 15-day journey stretching some 800 kilometers. The black-necked crane, a first-class protected species in China, is the only kind of crane that inhabits and reproduces high on plateaus. Aside from black-necked cranes, the reserve has seen the return of other migratory birds, with the total number reaching 10,000.
