The Great Crane Project was a species reintroduction project based on the Somerset Levels and Moors that aimed to secure the future of the common crane (Grus grus) in the UK. Between 2010 and 2014, 93 common cranes were hand-reared and released. In 2018, a pair crossed the Severn Estuary and became the first cranes to nest on the Gwent Levels in 400 years.
Damon Bridge, RSPB Conservation Officer on the Somerset Levels and Moors and former Project Manager for the Great Crane Project, shares his insights and knowledge of one of the UK’s first ‘head-starting’ projects reintroducing this iconic wetland bird!
