
“Over the past decade, the population of the critically endangered Siberian crane has increased by nearly 50%,” reports Mongabay. The International Crane Foundation
said the boost in the snowy-white Siberian crane’s numbers is the result of efforts to secure the migratory bird’s stopover sites along its eastern flyway, or migratory route, between Russia and China.
The Siberian crane, known for its extremely long and arduous annual journeys, is one of the world’s rarest cranes. It’s western and central populations, which once bred in western Russia, then migrated to parts of Central Asia and India, is nearly extinct today.
Most Siberian cranes that remain belong to the eastern population, which migrates between northeastern Russia and China. By 2012, researchers estimated there were around 3,500-4,000 individuals left in this eastern population.
The latest bird counts from Russia and China suggest their numbers have nearly doubled to 7,000 individuals.
Other creatures are also recovering in the area between Russia and China. The snow leopard population has doubled in Kazakhstan, a vast central Asian country between Russia and China. Wild horses recently returned to Kazakhstan after being absent for two hundred years.
Bonobo populations are stabilizing in the war-torn nation of the Congo, where most of them live. (Bonobos, once called pygmy chimpanzees, are human beings’ closest living relatives, sharing more than 98% of our DNA).
Mountain gorillas are making a comeback in the central African country of Rwanda. Giant pangolins have been spotted in Senegal after being absent from that country for a quarter century.
Bengal tigers are making a comeback in Bangladesh, as are Asian antelopes and olive ridley turtles, even though Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely-populated nations, with nearly as many people per square mile as cities like Atlanta. (Bangladesh has more than 170 million people living in an area the size of Arkansas).
Crocodiles are making a comeback in Cambodia and flourishing in northern Australia. A giant fish believed to be extinct was found last year in the Mekong River.