YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/R7IV7UhubDE

HD B-roll download: http://bit.ly/1W3bNvK

Photo Slideshow: (Credit: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS): http://bit.ly/1PxXMzj

Bronx, NY – June 17, 2016 – Attached Photo/Video: The WCS’s (Wildlife Conservation Society) Bronx Zoo is home to a white-naped crane chick (Grus vipio) that hatched this spring on the Northern Ponds adjacent to the Himalayan Highlands exhibit. The chick can be seen with its parents.

WCS breeds white-naped cranes and other species as part of the Species Survival Plan, a cooperative breeding program designed to enhance the genetic viability of animal populations in zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

White-naped cranes are a migratory species native to East Asia including China, Russia, Japan, North and South Korea, and Mongolia. They are classified as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with the wild population estimated to be between 5,500 and 6,500 individuals. The species is at risk because of loss of its wetland habitats to agriculture.

The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Mongolia Program has identified this species as a conservation priority, and has conducted censuses in high elevation wetlands of Mongolia and nearby countries.  WCS has worked with conservation partners and governments across the crane’s range to help conserve this iconic species.

The Wildlife Conservation Society works to protect wildlife around the globe, and has conservation programs in Asia working to save wildlife found within the range of the white-naped crane.