Working with ToPS (Threatened or Protected Species).
Time to check back in with our little Blue Crane chick
For those of you that remember, we admitted a very young Blue Crane chick, weighing a tiny 120g on admission, on the 3rd of January.
Fast forward just over a month and this chick is really growing into its own. With a carefully controlled diet and exercise regime, this little patient now weighs 580g and stands at around 30cm tall. Full adult weight and height will be around 5kg and 1-1.2m so they still have a long way to go!
What goes into rearing a crane you may ask? Well we follow very strict protocols from food to interactions, as cranes habituate to humans very easily.
Diet is strictly monitored. Interactions require very careful thought. Lots of exercise is needed.
To limit human habituation, all staff wear a basic, but effective, costume to replicate the adult Blue Crane colours - as pictured below.
And finally, this little chick even has it's very own special playlist.
Raising a lone orphan of any kind is a full time job, we put a lot of effort into the care and upbringing of these wild animals with as little human interaction as possible with the final goal of returning them to the wild!
