China zoo still searching for two rare cranes on the loose

Source:Global Times Published: 2018/9/9 17:53:40

Two nationally protected cranes have escaped from a Southwest China zoo, and employees are still trying to lure them back.

A threatened species and among the world's rarest, the red-crowned crane is among the tallest, standing around 1.5 meters with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters.   

A group of three of the birds first flew the coop on Wednesday during a flight exercise that involved whistled commands from the ground at Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo.

Zookeeper Zhang Jing said the birds didn't respond to his whistled signal to return and kept flying for around 30 minutes before disappearing from sight.  

So far only one of the birds was found in a nearby village.

The zoo has since extended its search for the nationally protected birds to cover a 30-kilometer radius. 

Continued 

Chinese vets’ 3D-printed titanium beak fits the bill for injured red-crowned crane

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 20 July, 2016, 2:34pm

UPDATED : Wednesday, 20 July, 2016, 10:10pm

Chinese veterinary surgeons have given a red-crowned crane a new beak – made out of titanium using a 3D printer – after its original beak was broken in a fight with another bird, mainland media report.

The bird, which lives in a zoo in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, received the upper beak implant during surgery last week at an animal hospital in the province, Xinhua reported.

Some mainland internet users wrote that the crane would become “invincible” in any future fights because of its “Wolverine” beak – a reference to the X-Men mutant superhero with metal claws.

The birds, also known as Japanese cranes, are among the most aggressive native species of Asia, and are often seen using their long, sharp beaks to attack each other, or predators such as eagles.

They have even been known to attack humans.

In 2014, several bird watchers suffered numerous injuries to their bodies and their clothes were damaged after being attacked by an adult red crown crane at a national reserve in Baicheng city, in Jilin province.

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