'With this last class now on the Levels we’re all looking forward to the next phase of the project with the cranes settling down to breed and raise youngsters in the wild.' - Damon Bridge, Great Crane Project Manager
16 young Great Crane chicks graduate from last ever school class
Young Crane attending school, Image: Amy King/WWT
The last ever 'avian class' at a unique school for birds has graduated with flying colours and has now been moved to a secret release location in Somerset. Hogwarts for Cranes perhaps, who knows, but the magic has once again been used on 16 young cranes who have just completed 10 weeks of Crane School at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire. Over the past five years, classes of young crane chicks have learnt life’s essentials with almost 100 cranes having been released onto the Somerset Levels and Moors.
It’s part of the Great Crane Project, a partnership between WWT, RSPB, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust and Viridor Credits, which aims to restore the Eurasian cranes to their former haunts before they were driven to extinction in the 16th century by over-hunting and the loss of wetlands.
WWT’s Amy King is head teacher at Crane School, she commented: “This year’s Crane School class have really thrived. They’ve love their daily walks and this year we drafted in 40 volunteer ‘PE teachers’ who took the birds for more than 700 hours of exercise. I’ve worked with the Great Crane Project since day one and it has been the most unforgettable experience. Some of the first birds that I raised have had chicks of their own now. It’s just wonderful to know that they’re out there, living wild in our landscape once again.”
Cranes were once common throughout Britain, but today the only trace in many parts is in place names such as Cranleigh, Cranmore and Tranmere (Tran- is from the Norse for crane). Over-hunting and the drainage of their wetland habitats led to their extinction as a breeding bird four centuries ago. In recent years, a small number has naturally started to recolonise eastern Britain. The birds are long-lived and social birds that live in large flocks. Parents care for their chicks for several months. Their care lasts even beyond the time when they learn to fly, or are fledged. The crane ‘pupils’ at Crane School are hatched from eggs taken from a healthy wild population in Germany. Human ‘teachers’ take the role of their natural parents, guiding them through their first few months of life. The cranes’ human ‘teachers’ dress in grey hooded overalls to disguise their human form so the young birds don’t become accustomed to people.
Now the birds have graduated they’ve been taken to the Somerset Levels and Moors, where they’ll be introduced the flock of previous Crane School graduates, who will quickly take them under their wings. Over the next few years the crane flock should start to grow naturally as birds reach maturity and start to breed. As numbers build up the species should spread out across western Britain.
Damon Bridge, Great Crane Project Manager said: “With this last class now on the Levels we’re all looking forward to the next phase of the project with the cranes settling down to breed and raise youngsters in the wild. Putting these iconic birds back in this special place is so exciting, a real boost not just for the crane population in the UK, but we hope a symbol of a bright future for the Somerset wetlands.”
www.wwt.org.uk
It’s part of the Great Crane Project, a partnership between WWT, RSPB, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust and Viridor Credits, which aims to restore the Eurasian cranes to their former haunts before they were driven to extinction in the 16th century by over-hunting and the loss of wetlands.
WWT’s Amy King is head teacher at Crane School, she commented: “This year’s Crane School class have really thrived. They’ve love their daily walks and this year we drafted in 40 volunteer ‘PE teachers’ who took the birds for more than 700 hours of exercise. I’ve worked with the Great Crane Project since day one and it has been the most unforgettable experience. Some of the first birds that I raised have had chicks of their own now. It’s just wonderful to know that they’re out there, living wild in our landscape once again.”
Cranes were once common throughout Britain, but today the only trace in many parts is in place names such as Cranleigh, Cranmore and Tranmere (Tran- is from the Norse for crane). Over-hunting and the drainage of their wetland habitats led to their extinction as a breeding bird four centuries ago. In recent years, a small number has naturally started to recolonise eastern Britain. The birds are long-lived and social birds that live in large flocks. Parents care for their chicks for several months. Their care lasts even beyond the time when they learn to fly, or are fledged. The crane ‘pupils’ at Crane School are hatched from eggs taken from a healthy wild population in Germany. Human ‘teachers’ take the role of their natural parents, guiding them through their first few months of life. The cranes’ human ‘teachers’ dress in grey hooded overalls to disguise their human form so the young birds don’t become accustomed to people.
Now the birds have graduated they’ve been taken to the Somerset Levels and Moors, where they’ll be introduced the flock of previous Crane School graduates, who will quickly take them under their wings. Over the next few years the crane flock should start to grow naturally as birds reach maturity and start to breed. As numbers build up the species should spread out across western Britain.
Damon Bridge, Great Crane Project Manager said: “With this last class now on the Levels we’re all looking forward to the next phase of the project with the cranes settling down to breed and raise youngsters in the wild. Putting these iconic birds back in this special place is so exciting, a real boost not just for the crane population in the UK, but we hope a symbol of a bright future for the Somerset wetlands.”
www.wwt.org.uk
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