‘Crane School’ established at WWT Slimbridge to train new generation of wild cranes in Britain

24/08/2006 00:00:00 WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre has today opened the doors to Crane School. Six Eurasian Crane chicks will be reared with the minimum of human interaction so they can go on to train future generations of wild cranes as part of a major reintroduction programme. WWT Slimbridge's Crane School is part of The Great Crane Project, a new partnership between Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, the RSPB and WWT, supported by founding sponsor Jordans Cereals. The project aims to re-establish a breeding population of cranes in Britain, securing its future as a breeding species.

As it is crucial the young cranes learn how to behave as if they were in the wild, staff at WWT Slimbridge will be rearing the chicks using crane costumes and crane heads made out of litter pickers so the birds don't become too accustomed to humans. Visitors will be able to view the cranes through camouflage netting and anyone who enters Crane School must wear a specially designed crane costume. The young cranes will be taken for a walk through the marsh garden throughout the day and taught key crane behaviours. Here, the chicks will learn how to feed, recognise and protect themselves from predators, and interact with their brothers and sisters to find their place amongst the other cranes. Twice a day a small group of visitors will be able to play a key role in this vital stage of the project, by dressing up as cranes themselves and joining our experts as they teach the cranes how to survive in the wild.

Further eggs will be brought to WWT Slimbridge in 2008 and 2009 where these six will teach the newly hatched chicks how to be cranes in preparation for their reintroduction into the wild in 2009. A decision on the reintroduction sites is expected later this year.