Rare Eastern Sarus cranes released in Thailand:
Rare Eastern Sarus cranes released in Thailand
BURIRAM: Thailand authorities released Thirteen Thai Eastern Sarus cranes over a rippling reservoir in northeast part of the country to help revive the species on verge of extinction in the kingdom. The latest flock of 13 cranes released all at once on Christmas Day. The birds loudly honked and flapped hastily as they unsteadily flew to the skies. The children and spectators cheered.
The authorities in the Buriram province have since 2011 released more than 150 captively-bred birds. The birds can grow to up to six feet and weigh almost seven kilograms. According to the locals account they last saw the birds in the in 1968.
The birds were transported in large, specially adapted boxes. These allowed their red-feathered heads watching through mesh windows. They left from the Wetland and Eastern Sarus Crane Conservation Centre where they were bred to the Huai Chorakhe Mak Reservoir.
The ICNC classed Sarus crane as “vulnerable”, with an estimated 15,000 remaining in the wild. The Thai sub-species is disappearing from Thailand’s wild wetlands. Commonly known as Thai cranes, the birds nearly disappeared from the country roughly 50 years ago.
