These Cranes are the most primitive of the living Gruidae speices and can be dated back through fossil records to the Eocene period. There range stretches from the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Kenya to South Eastern South Africa. They do not migrate great distances and can be found in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. They survive on a diet of insects and small invertebrates, tips of grasses,  seeds and ground nuts. There numbers are indecline due to the  significant threat from live trade, as well as a decline in the drainage of wetland and grassland habitat. There are around 18,000 birds in East Africa and 12,000 birds in South Africa.