About 4,200 rare black-necked storks, more than 75 percent of the world's total, flocked to Tibet for the winter last year thanks to ideal local weather conditions and effective stork protection measures.

The black-necked stork, which has a total population of around 5,000, is one of the most endangered wildlife species in the world and mainly habitats some areas of China, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and southwestern Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces and Qinghai Province in the northwest.

To better protect the storks, the Chinese Government built Pengbo stork natural reserve in Linzhou County, 70 kilometers from Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, which is home to about 1,600 black-necked storks.

(China Daily April 15, 2003)