Common crane pairs set to soar

The UK’S tallest bird – the common crane – is set to thrive in the East of England, which could result in 275 breeding pairs within 50 years, say scientists at the University of Exeter.

Extinct in the UK for 400 years, cranes recolonised in 1979, and since then conservationists have worked hard to support the small population.

However, due to the slow breeding process of cranes their numbers remained low for the next two decades, leaving them at continual risk.

The new population model, published with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and RSPB, credits the 2010 importation of eggs from Europe and the release of fledgling cranes by conservationists. These efforts – part of the Great Crane Project – reinforced the population with 90 new birds by 2014 – a result that is likely to see the population increase by 50per cent, to 275 pairs, in the next 50 years. Samantha Herbert