On the second Sunday of September, for 18 years in a row, the whole world celebrates World Crane Day. This year this holiday falls on September 13.
The purpose of Crane Day is to draw the attention of the international community to the problem of conservation of these birds.
The crane is a well-known bird. In many nations, this bird is a symbol of loyalty, happiness, long life. Cranes play a prominent role in culture and art. In Ukrainian folklore, the crane is a symbol of spring and the awakening of nature. Observing the behavior of these birds, our ancestors predicted the weather.
Homeland of the cranes is considered to be North America, from where they first migrated to Asia, and from there to Africa and Australia. There are 15 species of cranes in the world. Currently, they are distributed around the globe, with the exception of Antarctica and South America. Only two species nest in Ukraine - the common crane and the demoiselle crane, which are in the Red List of Ukraine.
Unfortunately, in recent years we have become less and less likely to meet these large and beautiful birds. Their numbers have been steadily declining and they are now rare birds in Ukraine that are protected by law.
The reasons for the reduction in the population of cranes are:
• reduction of the area of marshes as a result of drainage;
• extermination of birds by hunters;
• use of hazardous pesticides;
Mykolaiv Zoo keeps these graceful birds. The general collection of cranes of Mykolaiv Zoo has 5 species.
We have two pairs of white-naped cranes (Grus vipio). The older couple is a female Olvia, born in 1996, who came from the Netherlands in 1997, and a male Borisfen, born in 1998, who came from Moscow Zoo in 1998. In 2002, they gave birth to their first offspring. They live in a summer enclosure, to the left of the main square of the zoo.
Younger couple: male Breez and female Volna, were born together in Mykolaiv Zoo in 2002. This couple has never given birth.
The female gray crane (Grus grus), which is kept in our country, arrived in 2009 from Vinnytsia.
The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) is a rare bird, the pride and adornment of every zoo. The male Yanyk, a resident of Mykolaiv Zoo, was born in 2007 and came to us in 2009 from the nursery of rare species of cranes of the Oka Reserve. Despite the fact that this male is aggressive and capricious, the staff of the ornithology department is proud that during all these long years of work they have found an understanding with this bird.
Also in the collection of Mykolaiv Zoo there are two males of a black crowned crane (Balearica pavonina) that now can be seen in a summer open-air cage behind the department of primates.
Another species of cranes from our collection is the demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo), a male Kovyl, who was born in 2007 and came to our zoo in 2009 from the Crimea by exchange. Now it is on display in a large pheasant row (a number of enclosures, which are located behind the cafe "Squirrel").
Providing good housing conditions, conducting educational work and, most importantly, breeding some species of cranes, Mykolaiv Zoo makes a significant contribution to the preservation of these majestic birds. And everyone who is not yet familiar with our collection of cranes or just wants to admire the graceful birds or learn a lot of interesting things about them, we invite you to a tour in Mykolaiv Zoo.