Cranes rearing chicks in Britain

Three young cranes have fledged at a Gloucestershire nature reserve, marking the most successful year of an ambitious reintroduction project.

The birds, which were spotted practising flying at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Slimbridge, are offspring of pairs that were handreared in captivity and then released into the wild on the Somerset Levels as part of the Great Crane Project.

Of the 93 birds in the project, five breeding pairs made Slimbridge their home. Others have successfully spread out across the south-west.

Damon Bridge, of the RSPB, said: “It is incredible to see birds we’ve handreared and released in the early years through the project rearing chicks of their own and doing it all themselves.”

The UK’S tallest bird, cranes were widespread until the early 17th century but were driven to extinction by the loss of wetlands and hunting. Samantha Herbert