Karkloof Conservation & Tourism - Grey Crowned Cranes

Grey Crowned Cranes

GREY CROWNED CRANE
(Balearica regulorum regulorum)

RED DATA CATEGORY
Vulnerable
POPULATION
3 500 - 4 500 ADULTS
KEY HABITATS
Wetlands surrounded by natural grassland.
MAIN THREATS
Habitat loss, Poisoning, power-line collisions, burning wetlands, chick captured from wild.

CONSERVATION
Landowner management participation, responsible use of agro-chemicals
Recent evidence of large-scale declines, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces, and the restriction of its range in the Free State and Transkei qualifies the Grey Crowned Crane as Vulnerable. The loss of wetland breeding habitat, direct poisoning of birds in agricultural lands and the removal of chicks from the wild has led to this species’ reduction in population size.

DISTRIBUTION
The Grey Crowned Crane is globally restricted to Africa, with its distribution not having changed much over the last century. The South African population, along with the population in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia make up the smaller of the two subspecies, the South African subspecies (Balearica regulorum regulorum). Within South Africa, the Grey Crowned Crane is restricted to the moist eastern, higher rainfall areas of the country, from the Eastern Cape Province, throughout the western parts of KwaZulu-Natal and north-eastern Free State, into the south-eastern regions of Mpumalanga. This species is particularly abundant in higher altitudes such as in the north Eastern Cape and east Griqualand (southern KwaZulu-Natal), KwaZulu-Natal midlands and Wakkerstroom to north-east Free State regions. In the Free State, its breeding range has contracted to the north-east, while it no longer breeds in the North West Province.

POPULATION
The Grey Crowned Crane is the most abundant and culturally significant of the African cranes. The total African population appears to have declined by approximately 15% over the last two decades, having abandoned certain areas of its former range. Its global population is estimated at between 85 000 – 95 000 individuals, with the majority being represented by the east African subspecies (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps). A recent crane census in South Africa puts the numbers of Grey Crowned Crane at c. 2 800 individuals, although this is probably an underestimate due to the census technique. It comprises three core populations of c. 1 000 birds in the Eastern Cape, including the old Transkei (showing a significant decline since the 1960’s of 1 500 birds, just less than 1 400 in KwaZulu-Natal (a population having shown a 55 % decline during the 1980’s), and almost 350 birds in the north-east Free State / southern Mpumalanga region.

ECOLOGY
Grey Crowned Cranes require mixed wetland-grassland habitats. They typically nest within or on the edges of permanent or temporary marshes / wetlands (utilizing smaller wetlands than Wattled Cranes). They may also nest in well-vegetated farm dams, where they make their nests among tall, often reedy, wetland vegetation, often of a height so that the nest is sufficiently concealed from terrestrial predators. The breeding season of this species varies depending on the duration and intensity of local dry and wet seasons. In South Africa, the Grey Crowned Crane is a summer breeder, with a peak in egg laying around November / December. Their preferred foraging habitat consists of expanses of short to medium height open grasslands adjacent to wetlands where they feed on grass seeds, insects and other invertebrates. Grey Crowned Cranes also use agricultural lands extensively in which to forage, including pastures, irrigated areas, fallow fields, newly planted cereal crops and harvested fields where they feed on harvest leftovers. The Grey Crowned Crane’s generalist feeding strategy has allowed this species to adapt to human settlement and can be found most often in man-modified environments.

THREATS
Although this species remains abundant over much of its range, it faces widespread degradation of its historic breeding and feeding habitats. This has occurred particularly through the alteration of wetland habitats, by draining and damming, for intensive farming and the loss of surrounding grassland habitat by agriculture and forestry plantations. Despite this they have adapted well to the intensified commercial agricultural practices and are often seen feeding in agricultural dry-lands throughout the year. However, where cranes occur in large numbers in agricultural crops they are threatened by both accidental and deliberate poisoning, through the irresponsible application of agrochemicals. Where crop damage has been reported by cranes, the incidents of shooting and intentional poisoning has increased. Power-lines pose a collision threat to young, inexperienced cranes as well as adult birds in misty low light conditions, while adult birds often get electrocuted on transformer boxes in attempting to roost on these structures. Grey Crowned Crane are also extensively threatened by the removal / catching of young chicks from the wild prior to fledging, either to be eaten, sold or kept as a pet. Many young chicks are also killed every breeding season through the indiscriminate hunting of domestic dogs.

CONSERVATION
The Grey Crowned Crane nests and forages outside of protected areas, with the overriding conservation challenge being the development of sustainable management alternatives for their co-existence within existing land-uses. Through increased awareness and environmental education, community-based habitat (wetland and grassland) conservation programmes need to be developed (e.g. the Wakkerstroom Natural Heritage Association), implementing management recommendations allowing cranes to co-exist in agricultural / human utilized regions. Solutions need to be provided to landowners experiencing crop / animal feed damage by cranes, through methods of preventing cranes eating the crops or establishing crane feeding restaurants during periods of crop sensitivity. Power-line incidents need to be identified and mitigated with standard techniques devised by Eskom. In certain areas, e.g. the Transkei, the cultural significance of the Grey Crowned Crane has afforded it a level of local protection, while general legal protection needs to be strengthened to restrict trade and protect cranes from being removed from the wild.




	1: Home 2: The Karkloof 2.1: Karkloof History 2.2: Accommodation 2.3: What to do in the Karkloof 2.4: Karkloof Falls 3: The Karkloof Conservancy 3.1: About Us 3.2: Vision and Mission Statement 3.3: Projects 3.4: Conservation Committee 4: Conservation Centre 4.1: Initiative 5: Farming Practices 5.1: No-Till Farming 5.2: Biodiversity/Agriculture 5.3: Biological Fly Control 5.4: Oribi Custodians 5.5: Crane Custodians 5.6: Biodiversity Stewardship Programme 5.7: Predators and Farmers 6: Farm Schools Project 6.1: 2008 6.2: 2011 7: Birding 7.1: Karkloof Sightings 7.2: Birdlist (PDF) 7.3: Photograph Archive 7.4: Bird Ringing 8: Cranes 8.1: Grey Crowned Cranes 8.2: Wattled Cranes 8.3: Blue Cranes 8.4: Wattled Crane Recovery Programme 8.5: KwaZulu-Natal Crane Foundation 8.6: Crane Ringing 9: Environmental Education 9.2: WESSA Share-Net 9.3: Eco-Schools 9.4: Nature Ways DVD 10: Conservation Issues 10.1: Alien Plants 10.2: Mallard Ducks 11: Upcoming Events 12: Useful Links 13: Contact Us	Grey Crowned Cranes GREY CROWNED CRANE (Balearica regulorum regulorum) RED DATA CATEGORY Vulnerable POPULATION 3 500 - 4 500 ADULTS KEY HABITATS Wetlands surrounded by natural grassland. MAIN THREATS Habitat loss, Poisoning, power-line collisions, burning wetlands, chick captured from wild. CONSERVATION Landowner management participation, responsible use of agro-chemicals Recent evidence of large-scale declines, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces, and the restriction of its range in the Free State and Transkei qualifies the Grey Crowned Crane as Vulnerable. The loss of wetland breeding habitat, direct poisoning of birds in agricultural lands and the removal of chicks from the wild has led to this species’ reduction in population size. DISTRIBUTION The Grey Crowned Crane is globally restricted to Africa, with its distribution not having changed much over the last century. The South African population, along with the population in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia make up the smaller of the two subspecies, the South African subspecies (Balearica regulorum regulorum). Within South Africa, the Grey Crowned Crane is restricted to the moist eastern, higher rainfall areas of the country, from the Eastern Cape Province, throughout the western parts of KwaZulu-Natal and north-eastern Free State, into the south-eastern regions of Mpumalanga. This species is particularly abundant in higher altitudes such as in the north Eastern Cape and east Griqualand (southern KwaZulu-Natal), KwaZulu-Natal midlands and Wakkerstroom to north-east Free State regions. In the Free State, its breeding range has contracted to the north-east, while it no longer breeds in the North West Province. POPULATION The Grey Crowned Crane is the most abundant and culturally significant of the African cranes. The total African population appears to have declined by approximately 15% over the last two decades, having abandoned certain areas of its former range. Its global population is estimated at between 85 000 – 95 000 individuals, with the majority being represented by the east African subspecies (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps). A recent crane census in South Africa puts the numbers of Grey Crowned Crane at c. 2 800 individuals, although this is probably an underestimate due to the census technique. It comprises three core populations of c. 1 000 birds in the Eastern Cape, including the old Transkei (showing a significant decline since the 1960’s of 1 500 birds, just less than 1 400 in KwaZulu-Natal (a population having shown a 55 % decline during the 1980’s), and almost 350 birds in the north-east Free State / southern Mpumalanga region. ECOLOGY Grey Crowned Cranes require mixed wetland-grassland habitats. They typically nest within or on the edges of permanent or temporary marshes / wetlands (utilizing smaller wetlands than Wattled Cranes). They may also nest in well-vegetated farm dams, where they make their nests among tall, often reedy, wetland vegetation, often of a height so that the nest is sufficiently concealed from terrestrial predators. The breeding season of this species varies depending on the duration and intensity of local dry and wet seasons. In South Africa, the Grey Crowned Crane is a summer breeder, with a peak in egg laying around November / December. Their preferred foraging habitat consists of expanses of short to medium height open grasslands adjacent to wetlands where they feed on grass seeds, insects and other invertebrates. Grey Crowned Cranes also use agricultural lands extensively in which to forage, including pastures, irrigated areas, fallow fields, newly planted cereal crops and harvested fields where they feed on harvest leftovers. The Grey Crowned Crane’s generalist feeding strategy has allowed this species to adapt to human settlement and can be found most often in man-modified environments. THREATS Although this species remains abundant over much of its range, it faces widespread degradation of its historic breeding and feeding habitats. This has occurred particularly through the alteration of wetland habitats, by draining and damming, for intensive farming and the loss of surrounding grassland habitat by agriculture and forestry plantations. Despite this they have adapted well to the intensified commercial agricultural practices and are often seen feeding in agricultural dry-lands throughout the year. However, where cranes occur in large numbers in agricultural crops they are threatened by both accidental and deliberate poisoning, through the irresponsible application of agrochemicals. Where crop damage has been reported by cranes, the incidents of shooting and intentional poisoning has increased. Power-lines pose a collision threat to young, inexperienced cranes as well as adult birds in misty low light conditions, while adult birds often get electrocuted on transformer boxes in attempting to roost on these structures. Grey Crowned Crane are also extensively threatened by the removal / catching of young chicks from the wild prior to fledging, either to be eaten, sold or kept as a pet. Many young chicks are also killed every breeding season through the indiscriminate hunting of domestic dogs. CONSERVATION The Grey Crowned Crane nests and forages outside of protected areas, with the overriding conservation challenge being the development of sustainable management alternatives for their co-existence within existing land-uses. Through increased awareness and environmental education, community-based habitat (wetland and grassland) conservation programmes need to be developed (e.g. the Wakkerstroom Natural Heritage Association), implementing management recommendations allowing cranes to co-exist in agricultural / human utilized regions. Solutions need to be provided to landowners experiencing crop / animal feed damage by cranes, through methods of preventing cranes eating the crops or establishing crane feeding restaurants during periods of crop sensitivity. Power-line incidents need to be identified and mitigated with standard techniques devised by Eskom. In certain areas, e.g. the Transkei, the cultural significance of the Grey Crowned Crane has afforded it a level of local protection, while general legal protection needs to be strengthened to restrict trade and protect cranes from being removed from the wild.