19.12.2007, 07:38 Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East is home to the largest population of merlin falcons in the world. But there's concern a growing business in bird smuggling is threatening their very existence.
26.01.2009, 18:09 Scientists in Russia’s Far East are trying to identify the source of an oil slick that has wiped out vast numbers of birds in Aniva Bay near the southern Sakhalin coast.
09.05, 20:31 Russia's resort town of Sochi has welcomed an unusual tourist, as locals have found a kiwi living in the city's port.
07.08.2008, 15:39 Ornithologists in Moscow are breeding deadly birds of prey to tackle the capital’s growing number of “flying rats” – pigeons and hooded crows. Both of the species are blamed for spreading dirt and disease.
30.06, 18:09 If you are looking for a place to escape Moscow’s urban jungle, how about getting to the heart of a real tropical forest? Join RT on a tour around a unique bird sanctuary filled with exotic and rare creatures just outside the Russian capital.
01.11, 15:48 A Russian paraglider’s first Himalayan flight could well have been his last after he collided with a griffon vulture mid-air and his canopy became tangled. Luckily, he managed to open the emergency parachute and land safely. But what about the bird?
04.02.2009, 14:03 The harsh winter of the Moscow region could have proved deadly for this crane. But he was saved from the snowy marshes on Christmas day by a local resident.
05.01.2007, 21:05 Crane Breeding Centre, part of the Oksky Nature Reserve in the Ryazan region 300 kilometres south of Moscow was opened in 1979 to preserve unique birds and restore the wild’s population.
//Published: 03 November, 2011, 21:26
Siberian cranes(51.8Mb) embed videoTo include this chart in your web page, paste the following HTML tag into your web page HTML: TAGS: Oil, Animals, Ecology, Russia, Prime Time Russia, Anya Fedorova, Neil Harvey, Lindsay France, Gas
As Siberian cranes have to fly over many danger zones every time they migrate, their numbers have taken quite a knock. Now the birds are receiving help from an unexpected quarter as an oil and gas producer aims to make up for any ecological damage.
The program, called “Flight of Hope,” watches over cranes’ safety on their journey spanning a continent – from their breeding grounds to wintering areas.
This part of the world spans many differing hunting traditions and is rife with conflict – and the crane is caught in the middle.
The CEO of Itera – the energy-producing benefactor – says Russian businesses like his are becoming increasingly concerned with matters green – and he does not just talking about money.
“Many Russian enterprises started to do private business ‘by capitalist rules’ much later than their western competitors,” Igor Makarov, head of Itera, told RT. “Unlike western businesses which had always been aware of such things and were environmentally friendly, Russian companies started to pay attention not so long ago. I am very happy to see this awareness growing every year.”
Itera also funds captive breeding initiatives and research. After the astounding success of rehabilitating whooping crane populations in the US through breeding programs and ultra-lights, a Wisconsin-based ornithologist George Archibald made contact with his Russian counterparts in the 1970s – just when Siberian crane numbers were falling alarmingly.
Now he is a regular guest on this side of the world to work with his friends and colleges to spread the word.
“The whole world is beginning to see the effects of our species on the environment,” George Archibald, director of the International Crane Foundation, told RT. “Foremost, of course, it is climate change and we all play a part in that. We have extinction of species, and problems with migratory species. People are more and more aware that countries have to work together to solve these problems because the air and the birds don’t see national boundaries.”
The first part of the job is to establish the species in captivity. People from all over Russia come to Oka Nature Reserve near Moscow to learn about the science behind the programs.
Next is working out new methods of integrating the artificially bred birds into nature. The scientists will put on special costumes, with a sock puppet on their arm resembling a beak. When they go to feed the hatchlings, the baby birds only see something that resembles their mother feeding them their dinner. So in the wild they will know never to depend on humans for food.
Alexander Sorokin, a crane expert and coordinator of the “Flight of Hope” project, says it is pointless to restore the populations of Siberian cranes unless their security can be safeguarded.
“This flocks must fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan, where hunting them is traditional and difficult to regulate,” Aleksandr Sorokin, director of the endangered species laboratory at the All-Russian Research Institute of Nature, told RT. “You can imagine if we lose even one or two birds from this population, which includes probably 20-25 birds only. Itera was the first partner with us, and the help Itera gives is extremely important for us. We hope more such partners will be involved.”
The Siberian crane project is an extremely difficult program, because it spans 11 countries, many of them rife with conflict. The political relations and social problems and warfare in this area are extremely complex.
The populations in western Asia migrate across Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, to Iran and possibly even to Iraq. Another population migrates across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. A third population migrates between China and Russia.
The last documented sighting of Siberian cranes in India during the winter months was in 2002 – undoubtedly, a consequence of hunting.
“My company was founded 19 years ago,” Igor Makarov told RT. “And 15 of these years we spent working in the Arctic. We sometimes can see the consequences of a big energy company's presence in nature. We think it is our company's duty, it's a task we have defined for ourselves – to do our best to preserve the environment. It is especially needed when you work in a region and there is nobody around to help or control you.”
Today there are several hundred Siberian cranes in captivity in special facilities in Belgium, China, Russia and the USA. If companies like Itera continue this trend of giving back, yearly migration will no longer be a flight of hope, but a flight of victory.
Today: 20:31 Thursday has turned into Friday this week, as on November 4 Russians get a day off to celebrate National Day of Unity.
Today: 21:52 Two weeks after convicting the murderer of Spartak fan Egor Sviridov, the Moscow City Court has passed sentence on another killer of a football fan.
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