Cranes in China

Fu Jianguo is the type of person who would spend his life in complete silence if others didn’t initiate conversations. In his 30-year career as a bird conservationist, the 55-year-old has gotten used to loneliness. Fu patrols Zhalong Wetland in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province, where rare birds like the red-crowned crane are still abundant. To monitor the birds day and night, he has swapped the comfort of a warm home for an old bus insulated with sheets of foam and equipped with a small wood-fired stove. Temperatures here can drop as low as minus 36 degrees Celsius. To keep from freezing, Fu burns straw. The red-crowned crane is Fu’s favorite bird. “You can't imagine how intelligent they are. They can even recognize your patrol car and greet you when you pass by,” said Fu during one of his patrols for the Daqing Wildlife Conservation Society, which pays him 1,500 yuan ($215) a month. He’s one of their most dedicated conservationists. Play Video To protect the red-crowned crane and other birds from poaching, Fu Jianguo has spent most winters for the past 30 years patrolling the wetlands where the birds live. By Cicy Lin While on patrol, Fu keeps an eye out for poachers who steal the birds’ eggs, taking only occasional breaks to listen to the radio and voluntarily working overtime almost every day. Poachers use poison, guns, nets, and snares to kill and catch adult cranes, which can be sold on the the black market. A single red-crowned crane egg can fetch as much as 8,000 yuan, Fu said. Fu alerts the forestry police when he finds a poacher, but as he is not allowed to carry a weapon, he has little means of making the culprit stay. Sometimes, however, the patrols themselves are more dangerous than run-ins with humans. “Last night was cold and sad,” reads a recent entry in Fu’s patrol diary. “In order to find the evidence of poaching, I walked on the ice, but I accidentally fell into a hole and hurt myself.” Fewer than 2,000 red-crowned cranes remain in the world, according to the International Crane Foundation, which led the International Union for Conservation of Nature to list them as endangered in 2012. China is home to the species’ most important habitats: Filled with insects and crustaceans, the wetlands of Heilongjiang provide a perfect feeding ground during breeding season, while the coastal areas of eastern China’s Jiangsu province offer a milder home in the winter.