Stranded rare crane to leave next week for return to wild

Dan Dan, now weighing 9 kg and almost an adult bird, is scheduled to depart Taiwan for the South Korean capital of Seoul on March 28 under the escort of two veterinarians from the Taipei City Zoo, a zoo official said at a news conference.

The bird unwittingly “trespassed” into the flight zone of Hsinchu, northern Taiwan and was injured by gunfire from air force personnel in September 2004.

It was later sent to the Taipei City Zoo for treatment, where it has remained since.

A bird of the colder climates of the north, Dan Dan will be sent to South Korea to get reacclimated to the weather there before it will be set free to return to the life it once had.

After years of living in the Taipei zoo, Dan Dan is now 7-8 years old, just reaching “puberty.” He has many years ahead of him as the life span of red-crowned cranes averages about 40-50 years.

His origin is unknown and it is unclear whether he will return to his flock or venture out into a new life of his own.

Taipei zoologists have decided to install a GPS tracker on Dan Dan, probably on its tail or leg, to better understand its history and where the bird will travel after it is released into the wild at the end of 2009, Chin Shih-chien, a spokesman for the zoo told reporters.

The Taipei City Zoo has tried in vain over the past three years to send Dan Dan to South Korea as the crane is on the protected list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) . Under the convention, consent from a receiving country is needed before an animals on the list can be exported.

Authorities at the Seoul Zoo — which maintains sister ties with the Taipei City Zoo — sent an import license to the Taipei City Zoo last September, bringing a silver lining to the return of Dan Dan.

It will take months or a year before Dan Dan can be returned to the wild, Chin said.

As a result of the bird’s injuries, and the fact that it has been kept in a cage for more than three years, Dan Dan has lost its ability to fly, Chin said.

The rare bird is expected to be released into a wildlife reservation zone located in the Demilitarized Zone between South Korea and North Korea, when the Seoul Zoo celebrates its 100th founding anniversary, Chin noted.

From the Korean wildlife reservation zone, Dan Dan is likely to replenish itself before flying to its original habitat — be it northeastern China, Siberia or China’s Jiangsu Province,Chin speculated.

Believing that the red-crowned crane was from China, independent Taipei City Councilor Lin Jui-tu showed in May last year a paper issued by China’s Zhalong Nature Reserve, a center located in Heilongjiang and dedicated to the protection of waterfowl, commissioning him to assist in sending Dan Dan back to its natural habitat in China.

“If this is not possible, Zhalong is willing to send three red-crowned cranes to Taiwan to accompany the stranded crane, “ Lin said during a city council session in May 2007.

1|2|Next Page>>

PrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email