An amateur photographer from northwest China's Shaanxi Province felt both lucky and worried that he caught a rare and dangerous sight with his camera.

The amateur photographer snapped pictures of a Peregrine falcon attacking a crested ibis in the air. Despite its larger size, the crested ibis was simply unable to defend itself from the falcon. 

Finally, the two birds landed at the river bank, which was almost one kilometer from the photographer, leaving the fate of the two birds unknown to the photographer. 

Falcon preying on ibis is very common in the wild. Both birds are under national protection in China, while the crested ibis is protected at a higher level as the species is rarer. 

The Yang county in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province is the hometown of crested ibises. In 1981, seven wild crested ibises were discovered here. They were the only extant individuals of the species at that time. After 38 years, the worldwide population of crested ibis has exceeded 3,000. Though the species is still classified as "endangered" by IUCN red list, its population is increasing. 

(Cover photo is a still shot of the video. Edited by An Qi)

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