We Manage with Care is a product the Force can justly be proud of. Wattled crane chicks answer call of the wild Five wattled crane chicks have heard the call of the wild and joined up with their own kind at last - two wild wattled cranes which have moved into the area, the Southern African Crane Foundation reports. The chicks are the beginning of an exciting reintroduction programme for wattled cranes - the first of its kind in Africa. Wattled cranes are classified as critically endangered in South Africa to such an extent that the Highlands Crane Group started an Isolation Rear and Release Reintroduction Programme. This technique was pioneered by the International Crane Foundation and involves taking second eggs from nests once the first egg has hatched.
Wattled cranes abandon the second egg once the first has hatched.
These eggs are put into a specially designed incubator made by Denel-Simchem. To avoid this, chicks are reared in isolation using hand puppets and people wearing crane costumes. This is done with the help of Frans Krige and his team at the Verloren Vallei Nature Reserve, an Mpumalanga Parks Board Reserve. A wild wattled crane and her chick have moved into the area, obviously curious at the strange goings on. This is a wonderful start for our flock to learn the real ways of the wild.