TIL: How to Play Matchmaker for Beautiful, Endangered Birds | Today I Learned 

National Geographic Explorer Olivier Nsengimana has set out to rescue captive grey crowned cranes. Along with his team, he began a program taking cranes out of captivity and placing them back into their natural habitat.
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The Endangered Grey Crowned Crane is a monogamous species that mates for life. Due to the commodification of these birds, they are captured and sold as household ornaments. Taken into captivity, they live out their lives in backyards and hotels. Crane 110 spent most of her life confined to a backyard, unable to search for a mate.
National Geographic Explorer Olivier Nsengimana has set out to rescue captive cranes like Crane 110. Along with his team, he began a program taking cranes out of captivity and placing them back into their natural habitat.
Prior to returning the captive cranes to the wild, the cranes are given a full medical examination to ensure their health. They are then free to search for their mate. “The cranes begin to bond. Like people, they date,” states Nsengimana. When choosing a partner, cranes call and dance to one another. Nsengimana adds: “In some cases they will just fall in love on the first date, or they will have to try others before they will find the right one for life.”
Almost two years after Crane 110 was released, she bonded with Crane 194, who also came from a backyard. “Our project is giving a second chance to those cranes that were once in captivity to choose the right partner, and contribute to the wild population of Great Crowned Cranes,” says Nsengimana.
PRODUCER/EDITOR: Laurence Alexander
SERIES PRODUCER: Christopher Mattle
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Elaina Kimes
Special thanks to Akagera National Park, Akagera Management Company, African Parks, and the Rwandan Development Board.
TIL: How to Play Matchmaker for Beautiful, Endangered Birds | Today I Learned
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