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 Bonn,
10 September 2012 - On Wednesday, 5 September,
Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation,
participated in the “Flight of Hope” Project
for the reintroduction of the endangered Siberian Crane.
President Putin arrived near the breeding grounds of the
critically endangered cranes in West Siberia on 5 September
in order to support the project, meet project staff and
local conservation agencies as well as to join a training
flight with the young cranes in a micro-light aircraft.
The idea of the “Flight of Hope”
Project was born in Russia in the 1990s and discussed by
Range State signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding
concerning Conservation Measures for the Siberian Crane
in the framework of the Convention of Migratory Species
(CMS). It is part of a wider reintroduction programme and
was developed based on a similar project called “Whooping
Crane Eastern Partnership” for saving the very rare
Whooping Crane in the North America. The goal of the project
is to lead captive-bred Siberian cranes along their migration
routes – normally the role of adult cranes to show
their offspring the annual migration flyway from the breeding
grounds to the Southern wintering sites. Experience shows
that chicks successfully return to the place, where their
previous migration started after they have learned the migration
route in spring.
 Currently
the Western/Central population is estimated to comprise
only 10-20 individuals. Efforts on the Siberian Crane conservation
and reintroduction have been undertaken since the 1970s
with cooperation of Russian scientists and the International
Crane Foundation (ICF). In 1979, the breeding centre for
rare cranes was constructed in Oka State Nature Reserve
for creating a captive Siberian Crane population with a
view to reintroducing them into the wild.
After hatching, ten Siberian Crane chicks
were reared in the Oka Crane Breeding Centre and were trained
to follow the micro-light (alterantively knownas an ultra-light
or deltaplane) during their feeding. In August 2012, seven
more strong chicks were transported to the breeding grounds
in West Siberia, where training flights continued. Hopefully,
the participation and interest of President Putin in this
project will contribute to its successful implementation
and attract greater attention for the conservation of rare
species.
[watch
the video from the Guardian]
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