Red-crowned cranes will be brought from Thailand to Tram Chim National Park in December.

Dong Thap province will bring a male and female crane from Thailand to Tram Chim National Park in early December to conserve and restore this rare bird species.

On the evening of November 14th, Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Thien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Thap province, stated that the procedures for bringing the cranes back to Vietnam are basically complete. The province is planning transportation to ensure the health of the pair of cranes with the assistance of Thai experts. "The pair of cranes could be 6 months old or adult, depending on the foreign experts," he said.

Bringing red-crowned cranes from Thailand to Vietnam is part of a conservation project for this rare bird species, which Dong Thap province has been promoting for over a year. The cranes will be raised and released into the wild at Tram Chim National Park. According to the plan, over the next 10 years, the province will raise and release 100 cranes into the wild, with a total budget of up to 185 billion VND.

Crane enclosure in Tram Chim National Park. Photo: Tran Thanh

Currently, Tram Chim National Park has completed its infrastructure, including spacious enclosures the size of a mini football field and surrounding landscapes, located in zone A3. The staff directly responsible for caring for the cranes have completed their training abroad. Initially, foreign experts will come to Vietnam to transfer care techniques, training, and the necessary conditions for the cranes to adapt to their new environment.

After the recovery period, the crane sanctuary will be open to visitors to observe and learn about the cranes' growth process, with the aim of providing environmental education .

According to the plan, Dong Thap province is developing an ecological rice farming area, ready to release cranes after a period of captivity. The rice fields need to ensure conditions of biodiversity to help cranes find food, live, and eventually reproduce naturally. Initially, the ecological rice farming area is planned to cover approximately 100 hectares.

Tram Chim National Park, covering 7,500 hectares, is recognized as Vietnam's fourth Ramsar site. It is home to many rare bird species, especially the red-crowned crane, which migrates from Cambodia to feed and roost from December to April of the following year. In the 1990s, the park recorded very large flocks of cranes, sometimes numbering in the thousands, but they have become increasingly scarce, with some years seeing no return at all.

A flock of red-crowned cranes at Tram Chim National Park. Photo: Nguyen Van Hung

The red-crowned crane is distinguished by its bare, red head and neck, and gray stripes on its wings and tail. Adults are 1.5-1.8 m tall, have a wingspan of 2.2-2.5 m, and weigh 8-10 kg. Cranes will mate at three years old and spend a year raising their young before laying the next clutch.

According to the International Crane Foundation, there are an estimated 15,000-20,000 red-crowned cranes worldwide , with 8,000-10,000 distributed in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. In Indochina (mainly Vietnam and Cambodia), approximately 850 red-crowned cranes were recorded in 2014, but this number had decreased to 234 by 2014, and currently stands at around 160.

Ngoc Tai

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