Rare birds spotted with chicks at China's Horqin nature reserve

Nestled in lush summer wetlands, Inner Mongolia's Horqin National Nature Reserve has offered a rare glimpse of red‑crowned cranes and whooper swans gently guiding their chicks through the water.

Two red‑crowned cranes, a top‑level protected species in China, were seen tending their chicks in the wetlands of the Horqin National Nature Reserve, with the parents staying watchful.

Not far away, a pair of whooper swans glided through the water with five cygnets in tow.

The cranes are breeding here for the first time in four years, while the swans have returned for a second season.

In all, the nature reserve shelters over 5,000 birds and more than 13,000 fledglings, with rare species appearing more regularly.

Spanning 119,587 hectares at the junction of the Greater Khingan Range and the Horqin Sandy Land, the Horqin National Nature Reserve plays a vital role as an ecological safeguard for the region.

Rare birds spotted with chicks at China's Horqin nature reserve

Two snow leopards roaming through a rocky mountain valley in Menyuan Hui Autonomous County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, was spotted by a herder grazing his livestock nearby, who recorded the rare scene in his smart phone.

The footage shows the leopards moving calmly in grass and among bare rocks, occasionally pausing to look around, in fusion with the natural environment.

Snow leopards are a species under the first-class state protection in China, demanding high-quality habitats and intact food chains. Strengthened wildlife protection measures, including rotational grazing, mountain patrols and rescue efforts for wild animals, have worked to restore the fragile alpine ecosystem in recent years. As the environment improves, populations of rare species are steadily recovering.

Qinghai herder spots snow leopards