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There is nothing quite so beautiful as watching a flock of cranes fly over misty wetlands in winter. The big question is: do we want to help them return to the Scottish Highlands?
Cranes used to be very common in Britain, but were wiped out in 1542 due to deliberate killing and the loss of wetlands. It is hard to imagine that these large, charismatic birds were once widespread in the Scottish Highlands, but we know this from the many places named after them, often in Gaelic. The most obvious is Cranloch, meaning ‘lake of the cranes’, between the Cairngorms and the Moray Firth. But there is also Bogingore ('little bog of crane') in the Muir of Dinnet. Close to Insh Marshes, in the heart of the National Park, is an association with ‘Gueith Linn Garan’ which can be translated as the 'Battle of Crane Lake'.
Cranes have made a gradual comeback in England. They started breeding in Norfolk in the 1980s, but numbers remained very low. Their return to England has been boosted massively by the Great Crane Project which has successfully reintroduced them to the Somerset Levels. This project collected crane eggs from Germany, raised the chicks at Slimbridge Wetland Centre and then released them on the levels. The birds had to be trained by humans to forage because young cranes normally learn this from their parents. Today, about 24 breeding pairs of cranes nest in Somerset each year and the population continues to grow. This a real success story and the cranes have become a real symbol of successful conservation in the West Country and are very popular with both the local community and visitors who travel great distances to see them.
A very small number of cranes breed in Aberdeenshire, but numbers are perilously low. This has led Trees for Life and other partners to investigate whether we should help cranes return to Scotland. Ecologists have identified fourteen potentially suitable crane breeding locations in the Cairngorms National Park of which two large areas seem very suitable. They are both large, relatively undisturbed wetland areas, which is just the right sort of breeding habitat for these special birds.
While cranes breed in wetlands, they traditionally migrate in winter to places where there is plenty of food. Some travel as far as Africa, but some hardly move at all. In fact the cranes that now live in the Somerset Levels do not migrate. What they need are areas of arable farmland where large flocks can gather and feed. In the Highlands they might also need to migrate a short distance from the cold mountains to the warmer coast. They would need to be ‘trained’ to do this because, as with feeding, they normally learn how to migrate from their parents.
The benefits of returning cranes to the Highlands are enormous. A truly big bird will have returned to Scotland and many thousands of people would have the chance to see these magnificent birds in the wild. They would certainly add to the wildlife and tourism importance of the UK’s largest national park. Returning them to the Cairngorms would also show that rewilding and species reintroductions do not always have to be controversial. It is very hard to imagine that anyone would object to cranes coming back.
The ecologists have examined three options. We could do nothing and hope that the very small number of cranes in Aberdeenshire continue to breed and start to colonise a wider area. Another possibility is to lure wild cranes to breed by introducing captive cranes to large enclosures. This is because cranes attract other cranes and they do regularly fly over the Cairngorms National Park. The final option is to follow the lead of the Great Crane Project and actively reintroduce them to the Cairngorms.
We are now considering these options. While we are certain that there is enough wetland for them to breed in, it is not so certain that there is enough winter food in the Cairngorms. Research seems to show that they could tolerate the cold, but it is possible they might need to be taught to migrate the short distance to the coast if it gets very cold.
Whatever is decided, the idea that one day we might see graceful flocks of cranes flying over Insh Marshes, Cranloch or the Muir of Dinnet would be a sure sign that rewilding is really working in Scotland.
Thank you to Somervell’s Wildlife Trust for funding this research.