Hooded Crane chick, Opal, on exhibit with her parents at the International Crane Foundation.

This story begins several years ago with a Hooded Crane egg, produced at the International Crane Foundation, and its whirlwind journey across the country to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. The egg was originally intended to hatch at the Denver Zoo, and in fact, a Denver Zoo aviculturist was accompanying the egg when the flight plan was re-routed after a late-breaking update that the Woodland Park Zoo had a pair of Hooded Cranes incubating. That well-travelled egg produced in Baraboo, Wisconsin ended up in the care of a different pair of Hooded Cranes across the country in Seattle!

Although people said the vast Zhalong Marsh in northeast China could never be crossed on foot, biologist Su Liying devised a transect route across the widest and most crane-rich portion. Every year since 2007, Liying has led a team for three arduous days of walking across Zhalong Marsh. Ten years of data trace the results of wetland restoration and recovery.

For many years a single Siberian Crane has returned to its wintering grounds in Fereydunkenar, Iran, a small town near the Caspian Sea. The locals call him “Omid,” meaning “Hope” in Farsi. This lonely Siberian Crane has indeed become the symbol of hope for Fereydunkenar and its wetlands. The presence of the Siberian Crane each winter has helped protect habitat for millions of other migratory birds, while benefiting local rice farmers, who supplement their winter income with traditional duck trapping.

Earlier this summer, and with much anticipation, we traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the Workshop on Sarus Crane Conservation in Cambodia and Vietnam. The workshop comes at a critical time for the conservation of Eastern Sarus Cranes, as population data collected during the past two decades show a sharp decline in crane populations in the last two years. As a result, bold actions are urgently needed to reverse this downward trend.