Their Latin name is Grus japonensis and they are IUCN red-listed as Endangered with a wild population less than 2000 individuals and decreasing.
Pensthorpe have a special link with red-crowned cranes, and the International Crane Foundation (ICF) who work closely with local communities to raise awareness of the crane’s plight in East Asia, including the Demilitarized Zone of the Korean Peninsula. Alongside work in East Asia, zoological institutions such as Pensthorpe Conservation Trust maintain a healthy captive-bred population to ensure that the species has a safety net.
George Archibald, a valued Trustee of Pensthorpe Conservation Trust is co-founder of the ICF, back in 1973, based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA. During that first year, an elderly red-crowned crane named Phil arrived at Baraboo. The male we have here is Phil’s great-great grandson, hatched on 3rd May 2004. He came to Pensthorpe as a young bird and it seemed only right therefore that George Archibald give him a house name, George chose ‘Taro’ after a crane he once knew in Japan.
“Red-Crowned Cranes, in shining white with black trim, are poetry in motion when caught in dance or in flight against a blue sky.” George Archibald ICF.
In April 2020, whilst the Coronavirus lockdown continues owner of Pensthorpe, Deb Jordan, recorded our two Red-crowned cranes calling to each other and then the female tending to their nest, to sit on two eggs. It is fascinating to watch their behaviour and listen to them calling which conjures up images of what we would imagine to have been a common sound in the jurassic era.
This February the decision was made to catch our flock of 56 greater flamingos at Pensthorpe. One of our two year old chicks had a lump on his head that we wanted the vet to check out and we decided it would be an excellent opportunity to catch the whole flock to give them all… Read more »
On February 4th 2021 I was perched of the side of the Sierra Negra mountains in Cape Verde collecting biometric data of red billed tropic birds and deploying GPS trackers. I was blissfully unaware of the events occurring back at Pensthorpe. I knew there were still cases of avian influenza being reported daily in the… Read more »
World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2nd February each year, to raise global awareness about Wetlands and the vital role they play for people and the planet. Wetlands are amazing, they sustain life; teem with biodiversity; naturally filter pollutants; store carbon and provide vital flood protection from storms. They are dynamic and ever changing throughout the… Read more »