WWT Slimbridge waves goodbye to cranes destined for wild

A flock of wild cranes in the West Country for the first time in 400 years

August 2010: Staff at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire have just waved a tearful goodbye to 21 young cranes off on the next leg of their journey on the road to reintroduction into the wild.

NEXT STAGE FREEDOM: The holding pen on the Somerset Levels will give the birds time to acclimatise before their full release in the autumn Picture: Sacha Dench

The release is the latest critical stage in the Great Crane Project, a partnership between WWT, RSPB and Pensthorpe Conservation Trust.

Back in April, the cranes were brought over from Germany as eggs by a Great Crane Project team led by WWT's Head of Conservation Breeding, Nigel Jarrett. Within hours of arriving at Slimbridge Wetland Centre the eggs started to hatch and so followed weeks of intensive rearing and teaching of vital survival skills at a special 'crane school', led by a team of costumed crane caretakers led by ‘mum' Amy King and ‘dad' Roland Digby. They wore costumes so the birds did not become imprinted on humans.

Excitement has been building in recent weeks as the cranes, aged between 12 and 14 weeks old, prepared to move from their early childhood home at Slimbridge to the temporary release enclosure on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

Final preparations have included fitting the cranes with various tracking devices, to help Great Crane Project staff monitor the cranes once they are released, including small GPS satellite tracking backpacks.

Then, under the watchful eye of Nigel Jarrett and Great Crane Project staff, Amy and Roland escorted their brood from their early childhood home on the short journey to the secret location on the Somerset Levels and Moors. Here the cranes will acclimatise in a temporary release enclosure before being released into the wild later this autumn.

WWT's Nigel Jarrett said: ‘It's an emotional day for us but we know that this is what it's always been about; putting back birds that belong in this country. It is incredible to think that by autumn we could be seeing a flock of wild cranes in the West Country for the first time in 400 years!'