Experience: I live as a crane

"The International Crane Foundation was set up in 1973, with the aim of safeguarding the world's 15 crane species most are endangered or vulnerable due to habitat loss, climate change and hunting. As senior aviculturist at the headquarters in Baraboo, Wisconsin, I'm involved in everything from daily feeding to overseeing chick-rearing. Whenever possible, chicks are raised by their biological parents or adopted by other adult cranes, but when that isn't"

"possible, we have to raise them, and teach them how to behave like cranes. Some chicks will later be released into the wild, so it's important that they learn to stay away from people and other predators. Young birds identify the first large moving object they see as their parent a process called imprinting so it's important they don't see us as humans while we're raising them. At one time,"

"feeding was done from behind a barrier to reduce interaction, but this wasn't really practical. One day, a colleague threw a sheet over himself. A lot of the staff thought he was crazy, but he started developing a more elaborate costume, adding feathers and even wearing pants that matched the colour of cranes' legs. Amazingly, the chicks responded well, and followed him as they would an adult crane. The outfits"

"we use now have detailed puppet crane heads on one arm. The other arm is our wing. We did away with the feathers to make laundering the costumes easier. Now, any time we spend among the chicks is done in costume. Whenever I see a video of us running and flapping, it does look kind of ridiculous, but the chicks still get the idea The chicks can be quite aggressive towards one another, depending on personalities and sexes,"

The International Crane Foundation protects all 15 crane species threatened by habitat loss, climate change and hunting. Staff raise chicks when parents are unavailable, ensuring chicks learn to avoid people and predators so they can be released into the wild. Young birds imprint on the first large moving object they see, so staff wear crane costumes with puppet heads and a wing arm to prevent human imprinting. Costumes were simplified for laundering and all chick interactions occur in costume. Care includes monitoring feeding, managing aggression, teaching foraging for insects, and occasionally feeding with a bare hand.

Read at www.theguardian.com