Izumi crane migration grounds
Encyclopedia
The Izumi
crane
migration grounds cover a 245ha paddy field
area of Izumi plain in the northwest of Kagoshima Prefecture
known for the about ten-thousand cranes which pass the winter there from every year mid October to March.
The cranes come over with the north and northwest winds from mid October to mid November. Each year there are about 10,000 hooded crane
s, 3,000 white-naped crane
s and also small numbers of common crane
s, demoiselle crane
s, sandhill crane
s and Siberian crane
s. They pass the winter eating rice plants, cyperaceae
weed, japonicus steud, eleocharis acicularis
, eleocharis Kuroguwai Ohwi, potatoes, frogs, snails, viviparidae
, grasshoppers and so on. People also feed them about 70 tonnes of wheat, chaff, brown rice, soybeans and so on. The cranes in Izumi are carefully protected. For example, the roosting grounds are set in are marshy areas so they cannot be attacked by Japanese raccoons and Japanese mink
. On the other hand, farmers in the area have had to set up guard nets around their fields so the cranes cannot damage crops. Before they leave the area, the cranes are given about 8 tonnes of sardines before heading north. They go up in a circular pattern and fly away to the north with the convection currents, which comes up by west or northwest wind on a clear day from early February to late March.
The breeding sites for the hooded cranes flying to Izumi are the marshes from Lake Baikal
to the mid and upper stream of the River Amur. The cranes also winter in the Yatsushiro basin in Yamaguchi, Daegu
in Korea, the marshes of Goryeong and the Korean Demilitarized Zone
, the Yangtze River
in China and so on. There are many cranes which change their wintering places depending on the climate conditions of the year, so the number of the crane flying to Izumi plain changes from year to year.
(present-day Kagoshima) during the Edo period
(1603-1868). Cranes were first observed in Izumi plain in 1694, when land was being drained near the coast. The Edo Shogunate appealed for cranes to be protected nationwide which Satsuma followed and allowing the cranes to keep coming.
However after the Meiji Restoration
(1869), cranes were once being hunted again and by around 1890 no cranes were coming to Izumi. In 1895 they started to come again with the establishment of the game act and the cranes became established as an attraction on the Izumi plain served by a horse-drawn cart running to see the cranes. Kagoshima Main Line
railway opened in 1923 was planned to go through the center of Izumi plain at first, but the ornithologist, Uchida Seinosuke, appealed to the Japanese Government Railways
to protect the cranes, and had the route changed to go around the migration grounds. The number of the crane increased, 150-160 in 1919, 275 in 1927, and 3908 in 1939, however the number dropped to 275 in 1947 because of the navy airfield and a reduction of the protection.
After the war, the plain was designated a natural monument on 29th March 1952. In 1955 the Defense Agency planned to reuse the old naval airport but was forced to give up because of a grassroots opposition campaign. By 1963 the number of cranes coming was over one-thousand. The numbers increased sharply from 1976, when military exercises between the United States and Korea in one of the other wintering areas in Korea started. By 1992 numbers had reached over ten-thousand.Since 1987 the ‘Crane Marathon in Izumi’ has been held. On 1st November 1989 the Crane Observation Center was opened followed by the Crane Museum on 21st April 1995 ‘, both are used as awareness campaigns as well as sightseeing attractions. Also on 1st November 1987, Izumi and neighbouring Takaono
designated a wildlife protection area of 842ha, 54ha of which is a specially protected.
However, one problem that has arisen is that the cranes has begun to congregate only in Izumi, leading to research in how to get the cranes to winter in other parts of western Japan.
Izumi, Kagoshima
is a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan.On March 13, 2006, the towns of Noda and Takaono from Izumi District merged into the city. As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 56,205 and a density of 170 persons per km². The total area is 330.06 km².The city was founded on April...
crane
Crane (bird)
Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...
migration grounds cover a 245ha paddy field
Paddy field
A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such...
area of Izumi plain in the northwest of Kagoshima Prefecture
Kagoshima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.- Geography :Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu and includes a chain of islands stretching further to the southwest for a few hundred kilometers...
known for the about ten-thousand cranes which pass the winter there from every year mid October to March.
Migration
Hooded Crane
The Hooded Crane, Grus monacha is a small, dark crane. It has a grey body. The top of the neck and head is white, except for a patch of bare red skin above the eye...
s, 3,000 white-naped crane
White-naped Crane
The White-naped Crane is a bird of the crane family. It is a large bird, 112–125 cm long, approximately 130 cm tall and weighing about 5.6 kg with pinkish legs, grey and white striped neck, and a red face patch.The White-naped Crane breeds in northeastern Mongolia, northeastern...
s and also small numbers of common crane
Common Crane
The Common Crane , also known as the Eurasian Crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes.It is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane at 100–130 cm long, with a 180–240 cm wingspan and a weight of 4.5–6 kg...
s, demoiselle crane
Demoiselle Crane
The Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo, is a species of crane that breeds in Central Asia and winters in India, with a few found in Cyprus and eastern Turkey as well. The crane annually migrates to Africa and South Asia in winter...
s, sandhill crane
Sandhill Crane
The Sandhill Crane is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest...
s and Siberian crane
Siberian Crane
The Siberian Crane also known as the Siberian White Crane or the Snow Crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes...
s. They pass the winter eating rice plants, cyperaceae
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
weed, japonicus steud, eleocharis acicularis
Eleocharis acicularis
Eleocharis acicularis is a species of spikesedge known by the common names needle spikerush and dwarf hairgrass. It has a circumboreal distribution and it can also be found throughout the rest of the Americas. It is also found in Australia, where it is probably an introduced species...
, eleocharis Kuroguwai Ohwi, potatoes, frogs, snails, viviparidae
Viviparidae
Viviparidae, sometimes known as the river snails or mystery snails, are a family of large operculate freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks....
, grasshoppers and so on. People also feed them about 70 tonnes of wheat, chaff, brown rice, soybeans and so on. The cranes in Izumi are carefully protected. For example, the roosting grounds are set in are marshy areas so they cannot be attacked by Japanese raccoons and Japanese mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
. On the other hand, farmers in the area have had to set up guard nets around their fields so the cranes cannot damage crops. Before they leave the area, the cranes are given about 8 tonnes of sardines before heading north. They go up in a circular pattern and fly away to the north with the convection currents, which comes up by west or northwest wind on a clear day from early February to late March.
The breeding sites for the hooded cranes flying to Izumi are the marshes from Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
to the mid and upper stream of the River Amur. The cranes also winter in the Yatsushiro basin in Yamaguchi, Daegu
Daegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...
in Korea, the marshes of Goryeong and the Korean Demilitarized Zone
Demilitarized zone
In military terms, a demilitarized zone is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more military powers , where military activity is not permitted, usually by peace treaty, armistice, or other bilateral or multilateral agreement...
, the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
in China and so on. There are many cranes which change their wintering places depending on the climate conditions of the year, so the number of the crane flying to Izumi plain changes from year to year.
History
Originally, cranes passed the winter in marshes and paddies all over Japan, and were observed in many places throughout SatsumaSatsuma Province
was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Its abbreviation is Sasshū .During the Sengoku Period, Satsuma was a fief of the Shimazu daimyo, who ruled much of southern Kyūshū from their castle at Kagoshima city.In 1871, with the...
(present-day Kagoshima) during the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
(1603-1868). Cranes were first observed in Izumi plain in 1694, when land was being drained near the coast. The Edo Shogunate appealed for cranes to be protected nationwide which Satsuma followed and allowing the cranes to keep coming.
However after the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
(1869), cranes were once being hunted again and by around 1890 no cranes were coming to Izumi. In 1895 they started to come again with the establishment of the game act and the cranes became established as an attraction on the Izumi plain served by a horse-drawn cart running to see the cranes. Kagoshima Main Line
Kagoshima Main Line
The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company between Mojikō in Kitakyūshū, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu...
railway opened in 1923 was planned to go through the center of Izumi plain at first, but the ornithologist, Uchida Seinosuke, appealed to the Japanese Government Railways
Japanese Government Railways
The Japanese Government Railways was the national railway system directly operated by the central government of Japan until 1949. It is a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the Japan Railways Group.- Name :...
to protect the cranes, and had the route changed to go around the migration grounds. The number of the crane increased, 150-160 in 1919, 275 in 1927, and 3908 in 1939, however the number dropped to 275 in 1947 because of the navy airfield and a reduction of the protection.
After the war, the plain was designated a natural monument on 29th March 1952. In 1955 the Defense Agency planned to reuse the old naval airport but was forced to give up because of a grassroots opposition campaign. By 1963 the number of cranes coming was over one-thousand. The numbers increased sharply from 1976, when military exercises between the United States and Korea in one of the other wintering areas in Korea started. By 1992 numbers had reached over ten-thousand.Since 1987 the ‘Crane Marathon in Izumi’ has been held. On 1st November 1989 the Crane Observation Center was opened followed by the Crane Museum on 21st April 1995 ‘, both are used as awareness campaigns as well as sightseeing attractions. Also on 1st November 1987, Izumi and neighbouring Takaono
Takaono, Kagoshima
was a town located in Izumi District, Kagoshima, Japan.On March 13, 2006 Takaono along with the town of Noda, also from Izumi District, was merged into the expanded city of Izumi and no longer exists as an independent municipality....
designated a wildlife protection area of 842ha, 54ha of which is a specially protected.
However, one problem that has arisen is that the cranes has begun to congregate only in Izumi, leading to research in how to get the cranes to winter in other parts of western Japan.