Status
The Chinese Crested Tern is ranked as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. It has a very small population (less than 50 birds) and is only found in two breeding sites.
Threats
The biggest threat to the Chinese Crested Tern is human persecution and disturbance.
Along the coast of eastern Asia, seabird eggs have long been collected for food and this is the reason why no big seabird colonies can be found in the region outside restricted areas. Mazu has been one of the exceptions because of the political tensions across the Taiwan Strait since the early 1950s:
these islands had been restricted to the military services (This is no longer true).
