Experts from the Khingan Nature Reserve will help Japanese crane chicks adapt to life in the wild

The press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources reported that at the moment seven chicks of the Japanese crane are growing up in the Khingan Reserve in the Amur Region. They came from parental pairs from the nursery of rare species of cranes in the Oksky Reserve in the Ryazan Region and the Moscow Zoo. The eggs were donated to the Khingan Nature Reserve as part of the research and production program of the Eurasian Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The birds hatched in mid-May. The other day they were moved to a summer hospital at the cordon of the reserve on Lake Kleshinsky, where, under the supervision of scientists, they will adapt to life in the natural environment.

During the day, the staff of the reserve look after the chicks, and at night they are closed in special houses. In mid-August, the cranes will be able to fly. And in late September - early October, they will be transported from the summer hospital to the winter nursery of the station for the reintroduction of rare bird species, located in the village of Arkhara. After that, the birds are planned to be released into the wild.

"In April of this year, employees of the station for the reintroduction of rare bird species of the Khingan Reserve released four Japanese and one white-naped cranes into the wild to replenish the wild populations of these rare species. All birds are grown by manual semi-free method," the report says.

The cranes were marked with different combinations of colored plastic rings before release. Such a measure will allow specialists to continue monitoring the condition of birds and the process of their adaptation. In addition, thanks to this, scientists hope to obtain information about encounters with these cranes in Russia and on wintering grounds in China, South Korea and Japan.

In total, for the period from 1996 to 2023, 120 Japanese and 66 white-naped cranes were released into the wild.