Cranes are fighting fit
This pair of Eurasian cranes shows that certain skills are innate and there is no shortage of exuberance among adolescents.
As part of the Great Crane Project, the flock is being prepared for life in the wild at Crane School at WWT Slimbridge. They will be released next month onto the Somerset Moors and Levels.
They are taught how to forage and avoid danger by human carers, who wear disguises to prevent the cranes from becoming tame.
WWT aviculturist Amy King is ‘mum’ to the cranes and took the photograph while exercising them. She said:
“We are surrogate parents to the birds and try to teach them all they need to survive, but some things they just pick up on their own.
“Here the young cranes are sparring, as many young animals do. It looks dramatic but for now it is just practice. Once in the wild, they’ll use these skills to determine their place in the pecking order and, if they need, to battle potential predators.”
Great Crane Project Manager Damon Bridge said:
"It'll be great to get this year's youngsters down here to join the other cranes. They'll soon learn the ropes with the help of the more street wise older birds and with the support of our local farmers there's plenty of wild food for them to get stuck into."
Cranes were once a widespread and culturally significant part of British wildlife. Many towns and villages, such as Cranleigh, Cranmore and Tranmere, take their name from the birds. By 400 years ago, they had gone extinct as a breeding bird because of the drainage of wetlands and over hunting.
The Great Crane Project is a partnership between the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, RSPB and Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, with major funding from Viridor Credits Environmental Company, which is reintroducing birds to the Somerset Moors and Levels and aims to restore healthy populations of wild cranes throughout the UK.
