It breeds in the wetlands of steppe and forest-steppe zones, in grassy marshes, wet sedge-meadows and reedbeds in broad river valleys, lake depressions and boggy upland wetlands, preferring areas where its nest can be concealed and there is little grazing pressure (Bradter et al. 2007). Egg incubation in Muraviovka Park, southeast Russia was found to be 33-35 days and hatching success 56.3%. Only females were found to brood chicks (Kitagawa 2014). Its preferred habitats are less aquatic than for the Red-crowned Crane found over much of the same breeding range. In winter, it frequents freshwater lakes, farmland and occasionally coastal flats (Meine and Archibald 1996). 

Antigone vipio breeds in Dauria on the border of Russia, Mongolia and China, the Amur and Ussuri basins on the Sino-Russian border and the Songnen and Sanjiang plains, China. It migrates along the Songnen plain and Gulf of Bohai to its wintering grounds in the Yangtze basin, now almost entirely at Poyang Hu (c.500-1000), along the Korean peninsula to the Demilitarized Zone in North Korea/South Korea, mainly Cholwon (c.1,900 individuals), and to southern Kyushu in Japan. Three stop over sites are used regularly; Duolun in Inner Mongolia, Cangzhou (Hebei)/Beidagang (Tianjin) along Bohai Bay and the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve (Jiao et al. 2014). The total population is estimated at c.6,250- 6,750 individuals (Harris and Mirande in prep.). Counts in the Sanjiang plains suggests increases between 1984 and 2008, though double counting may be an issue (Jiang et al. 2012).

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix I and II. CMS Appendix II. It is legally protected in all range states. Protected areas have been established for its conservation, of which the most important are Khingansky, Muraviovka, Daursky and Lake Khanka (Russia), Daguur (Mongolia), Zhalong, Xingkai Hu, Xianghai, Keerqin, Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake and Shengjin Hu (China), Kumya and Mundok (North Korea), and Izumi-Takaono (Japan). Artificial feeding has resulted in an increase in the population wintering in Japan. A study into the migration routes and wintering areas used is being conducted by colour banding and attaching radio transmitters to individuals (Archibald 2013, Jiao et al. 2014).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Establish transboundary protected areas at the Tumen estuary between Russia, China and North Korea and the Argun River between Russia and China. Secure the conservation status of Cholwon and the Han River estuary in the Demilitarised Zone. Increase the number of suitable wintering sites in Japan. Enforce conservation measures to minimise threats from the Three Gorges Dam and thousands of other dams to wetlands along the Yangtze and at Poyang. Extend or establish protected areas for breeding and wintering grounds as well as migratory stopovers, including Kumya, Lake Khanka-Xinghai, Poyang Lake, Sanjiang Plain, Sonbon and Bohai Bay. Control spring fires in the breeding grounds. Prevent poisoning from pesticides and poaching. Establish local crane conservation groups at small wintering and breeding sites. Establish a database combining the locations of crane records with details of existing reserve boundaries in order to identify priority sites. Ensure conservation measures are targeted to within 3 km of roosting sites, as a recent study has shown that to be the maximum distance travelled by foraging individuals (Bradter et al. 2007).  Develop emergency response plans in case of avian disease outbreak at Izumi.