The Lepironia articulate grass field in Phu My commune, Kien Luong district, the southern province of Kien Giang, has received the first flocks of red-headed cranes.

By Feb. 1, as many as 20 red-headed cranes have come to the grass field reserve to seek for food after a long time of absence.

According to the reserve’s management board, the number of the rare birds is expected to increase in the next few days when water on the field recedes.

However, the board said the number will not be higher than that of the previous years as hundreds of hectares in the reserve have been turned into farming land, many irrigation facilities have been set up and the environment here has not been improved.

The red-headed cranes, once prevalent in all of Southeast Asia, can now only be found in Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos . It is estimated that over 200 of the birds live in An Giang, Dong Thap, Kien Giang and Dak Lak provinces in Vietnam ./.