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A pair of Japanese cranes during the courtship display

Red-crowned crane

Red-crowned cranes almost became fashion victims at the beginning of the 20th century. They were hunted to the brink of extinction in Japan so that their stunning plumage could be used to adorn hats and other fashion accessories. Hunting these cranes is now illegal.

Scientific name: Grus japonensis

Rank: Species

Common names:

  • Japanese crane,
  • Manchurian crane

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Red-crowned crane taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Red-crowned crane can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, China. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Red-crowned crane distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Endangered

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Population trend: Decreasing

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis), also called the Japanese Crane or Manchurian Crane (Chinese: 丹顶鹤 or 丹頂鶴; Hanyu Pinyin: Dāndǐng Hè; Japanese: 丹頂 or タンチョウ, tancho; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large east Asian crane and among the rarest cranes in the world. In some parts of its range, it is known as a symbol of luck, longevity and fidelity.

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