Tibetan crane's winter habitat under threat from Indian hydroelectric project

Hydropower project in eastern Himalayas will destroy migration site of 'vulnerable' black-necked cranes, conservationists claim

A hydroelectric project in India's eastern Himalayas will soon destroy one of the winter habitats of the magnificent Tibetan crane, a vulnerable bird regarded by local Buddhists as the reincarnation of a the sixth Dalai Lama, scientists and environmentalists have warned.

The Tibetan, or black-necked, crane, a species unique to Asia, has already disappeared from Vietnam, and can now be sighted only in parts of China, India and Bhutan, besides its main breeding grounds on the Tibetan plateau. It is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.