Blue cranes return to east nature reserve
"Many clients kept asking that if we are called the ‘Blue Crane’ then where were the actual blue crane birds? I kept telling them we will have them back."
For the first time in four years, blue cranes can be seen at the local Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary.
This was after two blue crane birds were released at the reserve by the Tshwane metro nature conservation and the Blue Crane restaurant.
Blue Crane restaurant owner Zander Smith told Rekord this came about after restaurantgoers constantly asked why there weren’t any blue crane birds at the reserve anymore.
“Many clients kept asking that if we are called the ‘Blue Crane’ then where were the actual blue crane birds? I kept telling them we will have them back.
“So we decided to have a golf day fundraiser with a bunch of companies and see if we could raise the funds to buy some blue cranes,” Smith said.
He said it took them about a year to finally get a compatible breeding pair.
“Fortunately, we met with a company which had a few birds in July and sorted out a licence and permits.”
According to Smith, the birds arrived at the reserve on Wednesday morning and were later released into a quarantine area.
Tshwane nature conservation’s Hencke Marais said the reserve needed to conduct a DNA sampling of every bird to check its health status.
Marais said the birds needed to be micro-chipped and to wear rings.
“This is to make it difficult for smugglers and poachers to poach these birds.”
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