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New Project to Test Feasibility of Using a Hang Glider to Lead Siberian Cranes Along a Migration Route Across Central Asia

By Claire Mirande

The International Crane Foundation is teaming up with the All Russian Research Institute for Nature Protection (ARRINP) and world-renowned hang-glider pilot Angelo d’Arrigo to conduct a feasibility study to determine if young, captive-bred Siberian Cranes can be taught a traditional migration route between Russia and Iran across Central Asia.

The Project will combine the ultralight techniques with the free flight of a hang glider in order to better simulate flight patterns of wild cranes. The goal this year is to cover part of the migration route between Kunovat, Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Siberian Cranes produced in captivity at the Oka Biosphere Reserve southeast of Moscow will be imprinted on both hang gliders and ultra-light planes and trained to fly behind these two aircraft. They will be transferred to Kushevat near the Kunovat Nature Reserve in western Siberia for intense training and led south along a part of their arduous 5,500 km migration route.

This bold initiative, an adaptation of a similar program that has shown promise for Whooping Cranes in the United States, is an element of CMS' comprehensive Siberian Crane Memorandum of Understanding. CMS hopes that this "high visibility" project will contribute to crane conservation by broadening public awareness and by improving on reintroduction techniques for cranes bred in captivity.

For more information see http://www.cms.int/species/siberian_crane/sib_bkrd.htm