West African crowned crane

Abstract

This report concerns the 1974 status and some other aspects of the West African crowned crane (Balearica pavonina pavonina). Data have been obtained from correspondents, personal experience, and the literature but coverage of the French literature has been less extensive than review of English literature. The breeding and general biology of this subspecies does not differ materially from the Sudan crowned crane (B. p. ceciliae) to the east nor from the closely allied South African crowned crane (B. regulorum) of eastern and southern Africa. The subspecies is widespread in seasonally moist grassland near river systems from between 10� and 15� N latitude eastward to the eastern edge of the Chad Basin. There is a little human hunting pressure but numbers do not appear to have diminished. Although the modification of wetlands is likely to impose a greater threat than is hunting, the crane is not presently endangered.