Sarus Cranes were previously widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia, but have undergone rapid population declines due to widespread hunting, egg collection and habitat loss. The last remaining Southeast Asian stronghold is in Cambodia and adjacent areas of Laos and Vietnam. Sarus Cranes in Cambodia are highly vulnerable because they are dependent upon two particular types of wetland habitat: temporarily flooded grasslands for breeding during the wet season, and permanent marshlands for feeding during the non-breeding dry season.
In response to accelerating pressures on both these habitats, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Cambodia Program initiated a comprehensive Sarus Crane Conservation Project in 2006 to safeguard the last remaining breeding and non-breeding sites, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the Royal Government of Cambodia.