Crested cranes: Uganda’s disappearing nationwide chicken

With its distinctive golden crown, pink throat pouch and slender black legs, the crested crane is beloved in Uganda – that includes on the East African nation’s flag and coat of arms.

All of the nation’s nationwide sports activities groups are additionally nicknamed after the long-lasting chicken, however in recent times it has gone into decline and conservationists say it might face extinction if extra will not be accomplished to guard it.

The chicken is protected by legislation – it stipulates a life sentence and/or a advantageous of 20bn Ugandan shillings ($5m; £4m) for these discovered to have killed one.

Going again centuries, native Buganda cultural superstition additionally protected the elegant fowl, which was seen as an emblem of wealth, success and longevity.

It was believed that if one killed a crane, its kith and kin would flock to the killer’s house, maintain vigil and mourn by collectively honking till the individual went mad and even died.

“Such tales instilled concern, and cranes could be revered and revered and never killed,” Jimmy Muheebwa, a senior conservationist at Nature Uganda, an area non-governmental organisation (NGO), advised the RAYNAE.

However for farmers in western Uganda, the place the cranes principally hang around, that concern has dissipated and sometimes it is just conservationists who seem to know in regards to the ban on killing them.

“I actually do not see any worth in these birds as a result of all they do is raid our plantations and eat our crops. We’re frightened about meals safety on this space,” Tom Mucunguzi, a maize farmer from a village close to Mbarara metropolis in Western Area, advised the RAYNAE.

One other farmer close to Mbarara, Fausita Aritua, agreed, saying when she goes to her maize plot she spends the entire day chasing away the cranes – and if she can not get there, she tries to get another person to face guard.

“We now not harvest as a lot as we used to do as a result of these birds eat all the things,” she advised the RAYNAE.

Also referred to as grey-crowned cranes, the birds are predominantly present in Uganda however are additionally in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

They’re non-migratory, however make native and seasonal actions relying on meals sources, nest web site availability and the climate.

Standing at about 1m (3.2ft) tall, the waterfowl principally dwell in wetland areas – riverbanks, round dams and open grassland – the place they breed and feed on grass seeds, small toads, frogs, bugs and different invertebrates.

However with the growing human inhabitants, the excessive demand for meals is pushing farmers to domesticate in wetlands, leaving crested cranes with diminishing areas to name house.

“In jap Africa, the inhabitants has declined terribly by over 80% within the final 25 years,” Adalbert Ainomucunguzi, who leads the Worldwide Crane Basis (ICF) in East Africa, advised RAYNAE.

In the1970s, Uganda boasted a inhabitants of greater than 100,000 crested cranes, however right this moment that quantity has dwindled to a mere 10,000, in response to Nature Uganda.

This decline noticed the Worldwide Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) put the crested crane on its pink listing of endangered chicken species in 2012.

“Regardless of its serenity, magnificence and recognition, the chicken is going through a critical menace. It implies that if no pressing measures are taken to reverse this development, we’d see the cranes pushed to extinction,” Dan Sseruge, a Ugandan ornithologist, advised the RAYNAE.

Round Mbarara we discovered it was troublesome to trace down the birds – and solely noticed them early within the morning simply after daybreak.

Conservationists say they was once a lot simpler to search out within the panorama surrounding Mbarara.

Dozens of cranes have in recent times been discovered useless after they have been poisoned by rice and maize farmers in Lwengo district, in south-central Uganda.

“One of many greatest threats towards cranes is poisoning by the farmers. It’s because the birds are inflicting quite a lot of crop harm,” Gilbert Tayebwa, a conservation officer at ICF, advised RAYNAE.

Mr Tayebwa mentioned he has been partaking farmers to make use of totally different deterrent strategies like scarecrows to guard their crops from invading cranes.

Farmers like Philip Ntare, from Lwengo, mentioned the cranes have been typically mistakenly poisoned after consuming crops sprayed with agro-chemicals and different pesticides.

“I simply chase them, as a result of I grew up figuring out the crested crane will not be alleged to be killed. However authorities ought to think about compensating farmers for crop harm,” he advised the RAYNAE.

Nonetheless, John Makombo, director of conservation on the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), mentioned this was not potential.

“It’s a kind of valuable species which have freedom to go anyplace and so sadly the federal government will not be answerable for any harm accomplished by the cranes,” he advised the RAYNAE.

Sarah Kugonza, an ICF conservationist, mentioned the cranes additionally face a number of different threats – not simply from farmers. With out the protecting cowl of the wetlands, their chicks usually tend to be captured by eagles.

Cranes are discovering day-to-day that they’re residing in an more and more hostile atmosphere.

“Generally breeding areas are flooded and these days some cranes are killed by electrical energy traces when flying,” Ms Kugonza advised RAYNAE.

Their distinctive magnificence has additionally put them in danger as persons are more and more capturing them to be pets, in response to Mr Ainomucunguzi.

However crested cranes, who can dwell for simply over 20 years, rarely breed in captivity because the birds are famously trustworthy.

“It’s a extremely monogamous chicken because it pairs as soon as, for all times. Which means that if considered one of them is killed or domesticated, the chance of discovering a brand new mating companion is sort of zero,” mentioned Mr Muheebwa.

They entice a mate by dancing, bowing and leaping – and are sometimes seen strolling as {couples} or households. A pair will outline their very own territory and might be very aggressive to defend it.

Scientifically referred to as Balearica regulorum gibbericeps, the cranes even have distinctive nesting patterns as they often return to the identical location yearly, typically laying between two and 5 eggs which can be incubated by each sexes for anyplace between 28 and 31 days.

Any destruction to those nesting areas impacts on these breeding patterns.

Their monogamy has additionally attracted the unwelcome consideration of native conventional healers, who declare that the elements of crested crane might deliver faithfulness from a companion – or good luck.

“Some folks have been caught looking cranes to take a few of their physique elements to witch medical doctors in a perception that they’ll get wealthy. Or, in case you are a lady, your husband won’t ever depart you,” Mr Tayebwa from ICF mentioned.

That is additionally one thing conservationists try to counter – in addition to alerting folks to the legislation defending cranes.

And in an effort to reverse declining numbers, the Ugandan authorities and conservationist teams at the moment are rallying communities to revive wetlands.

President Yoweri Museveni, who comes from the Western Area, has been urging encroachers to vacate wetland areas and, in response to native media, has declared 2025 a 12 months of wetland conservation.

The ICF has additionally recruited custodians to watch and make sure that the cranes’ breeding grounds are protected.

Nature Uganda’s Mr Muheebwa mentioned these efforts have been slowly serving to to stabilise the state of affairs however crane numbers remained “very low”.

For Mr Makombo, the UWA’s future emphasis goes to be on setting an instance in relation to the legislation.

“We will arrest and prosecute those that are poisoning the cranes,” he mentioned.