Use the news: Cranes returned to wild
News in Education
Lesson for grades 5-8
Grey crowned cranes are among the most beautiful birds on the continent of Africa. Standing more than 3 feet tall, they have a mix of gray, white and sometimes blue feathers topped by a crown of spiky golden feathers on their heads that look like a punk-rock haircut.
Most interesting of all, they perform elaborate and spectacular courtship dances to attract their mates. The beauty and dancing of the cranes made them enormously popular as pets across Africa and in other nations. So popular that their numbers have declined to dangerously low levels in the wild.
The African nation of Rwanda, however, has developed an innovative program to return the cranes to the wild, and it is being viewed as a model for other nations, CNN News reports. In 2014 the Rwandan government launched an effort to get owners to surrender their pet cranes with no penalty, and last year wildlife leaders said they believed no cranes remained in captivity. Healthy birds were released to a rehabilitation site in Akagera National Park, while birds that could not survive in the wild were taken to a protected crane sanctuary.
Rwanda's effort to return grey crowned cranes to the wild is an example of people working to help wildlife.
Activity: In the newspaper or online, find and closely read about another effort to help wildlife. Use what you read to prepare an oral report for classmates, friends or family describing this effort and the results it is getting.