Extinct Crane Returning to Region of England
A collaboration between several conservation organizations has yielded a very promising prospect for England.
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The Great Crane Project recently received a grant of 700,000 British pounds for the re-introduction of cranes to the southwest region of England called West Country. Cranes have been extinct from the area for 400 years. In 1981 a tiny breeding population emerged in the Norfolk area of East Anglia, but that community is so small it is considered to be quite vulnerable. The new community of cranes will be introduced at Somerset Levels, a mixture of coastal plain and wetlands of about 160,000 acres.
A crane chick rearing facility will be constructed at Slimbridge especially for the project. Over the last two years workers there have been gaining knowledge raising chicks by wearing crane suits and feeding the chicks with artificial crane heads so the chicks do not become dependent on humans.
The hope is the human-raised cranes will be returned to the wild wetlands in the fall of 2010. The director of conservation for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Dr. Debbie Pain, remarked on the project: ”Thanks to lessons learnt in crane school we now have the feathery-fingered skills to raise crane chicks. Roll on 2010 – we cannot wait to begin teaching these amazing birds how to live in British wetlands once again.”
The Great Crane Project is a joint venture by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Pensthorpe Conservation Trust.
Image Credit: Dave Hutton
