Putin’s cranes fail to reintegrate with the wild over diplomatic rifts – newspaper

(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 12, 2013) The rare Siberian cranes that took a migration flight with President Vladimir Putin’s motorized deltaplane in the autumn of 2012, have not reintegrated with the wild over diplomats’ failure to come to terms on their hibernation in Uzbekistan, Vedomosti wrote on Friday citing the Flight of Hope project director, Alexander Sorokin.

“Uzbekistan’s border service said it was prepared to cooperate, but the Flight of Hope directorate failed to receive the final approval through the Russian Foreign Ministry’s channels to let the birds out,” Sorokin said in an interview with Vedomosti.

Tashkent’s response to Moscow’s request was elusive, however, he said. It said it does not object. But the cranes could be shot from the Afghan side of the border, Tashkent claimed, as dry grass was being burnt in the border zone to improve visibility.

Uzbekistan urged Russia in view of this to try and find alternative places for the cranes’ hibernation, outside of the border zone, Sorokin said.

Meanwhile, Vedomosti sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry have not confirmed that problems obstructed the talks on the choice of a venue where the birds could be let out.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president is closely following the situation.

The project is really difficult with obstacles arising sometimes, he said.

Vedomosti also said that the only crane, a male named Para, who ventured to join wild cranes on their flight to the place of hibernation, will never return to the wild again.

Reports said earlier that dogs attacked the bird after the crane arrived in Kazakhstan with a flock of wild cranes. The bird was rescued by local residents.

Para was moved back to the Oka nature preserve in December and then to a zoo.

Para has got adjusted to his new place and is feeling well, the zoo’s deputy director, Maxim Kozlov, told the newspaper.

“There is a notice on the cage saying that the crane flew jointly with the president, something that adds popularity to the bird,” he said.

The experiment which Putin joined started in a breeding nursery for rare crane species in the Oka state nature preserve in spring. The birds were being raised with the use of a special method which excludes their becoming overly attached to humans.

After the young birds developed the necessary skills and were ready to fly, they were moved to Yamal closer to where wild cranes nest. The flight in which Putin participated marked the first stage in the birds’ journey from the Polar Circle to the Belozyorsky nature preserve in the Tyumen region.