The Red-Crowned crane (Grus japonensis) has one of the most beautiful dances in the bird dances have a very important cranes live in male-female pairs,and these dances help strengthen the bond between the two birds. The birds themselves are as striking as their have bright white bodies with black necks and wing their name implies,they also have a "cap" of exposed red controlling blood flow to the cap,the crane can cause it to swell and communicate aggression. The Red-Crowned crane is one of the most endangered of the 15 crane are only about 1500 of these beautiful birds in the with the other cranes,their main threat is habitat want to develop the rich land that cranes need to cut the long grasses that protect the cranes and other animals in the habitats,and fish in the same waters as the cranes. Along the Amur River and Lake Khanka,China and Russia are beginning to cooperate to protect these rare birds.(See map on facing page.) The Amur and Khanka areas lie along the border between the two countries and is the habitat for some of the Red-Crowned work to protect these two areas is a model for international cooperation for these birds are lost,the people of Asia will have lost an important symbol of luck and peace.