Cranes are among the most iconic migratory birds, with several species critically endangered. Their welfare is affected by power line collisions, hunting during migration, wetland loss, and climate-driven habitat change.
Migratory cranes face welfare threats spread across thousands of kilometers of migration routes. Power line strikes cause blunt force trauma deaths and wing injuries that prevent further flight - a particularly severe welfare outcome for an obligate migratory species. Cranes that survive power line strikes with wing injuries face either wildlife rehabilitation or euthanasia. Illegal hunting during migration causes painful death from shotgun wounds in birds that survive without being retrieved. The loss of staging wetlands forces cranes to attempt migration legs without adequate food and rest, causing physiological stress and mortality from exhaustion. These threats operate across multiple countries simultaneously, making crane welfare fundamentally an international governance challenge.