Blue Crane survey, Namibia
02 Oct 2007
Keeping track of birds in general is difficult. This fact becomes particularly true when the terrain the birds occupy is remote, vast and there are only very few birds. All of these are true for blue cranes in Namibia. With just over sixty birds in the whole of Namibia, an uncertain range that they occupy and their critical importance as indicators of environmental disturbance, blue cranes are critically endangered in Namibia and deserve as much attention as they can get. Besides that, the blue crane in Namibia is a sought after sight by discerning locals and visitors alike; a spectacular bird with an alluring call and in Namibia, an attitude of "follow me if you can".
This challenge, which is of both national and international importance, has not gone unheeded. Over the past decade however, monitoring of this bird in Etosha National Park has shown some disturbing trends: Fewer birds, irregular sightings, poor chick survival and generally less sightings. In response to this situation, and with the Namibia Crane Working Group as a catalyst, a much more focused attempt at understanding blue crane dynamics in Namibia was initiated in 2006. Multiple participants joined forces, Wilderness Safaris, Namibia Nature Foundation, the Ministry of Environment & Tourism, Polytechnic of Namibia, University of Cape Town, the ICF/EWT Partnership and local community members, and an aerial and ground monitoring program was introduced.
The blue cranes breed within Etosha during the rainy season. The highest recent count was 67 (60 adults + 7 juveniles) in April 2006, at the end of an exceptionally wet season; since then, as environmental conditions have become progressively drier, numbers have likewise decreased. In April 2007 during one of the research operations a radio transmitter was successfully attached to one bird at Fisher's Pan in eastern Etosha. A student was assigned to the monitoring of the birds that were in Etosha at that time and soon thereafter they disappeared again. A small group of cranes, including the marked bird were located at Lake Oponono in northern Namibia. The radio-tagged bird disappeared out of range at the end of May, although 15 other cranes remained in the area. This group comprised but a fraction of the already small population and the challenge was then to find the others, find other habitats that the birds might be using during the dry periods and gather as much information from local communities as possible regarding answers to these questions.
One particularly important priority was to survey southern Angola for habitats and birds as this was a completely unknown and possibly significant blue crane habitat. Match funding was obtained from the ICF/EWT Partnership, and the logistics of this survey were ironed out. In the last week of September we set out with a turbo Cessna 206, V5-MVD to examine just this. In a flight up into the Mupa National park, across to southern Lubango area and down the upper Kunene wetland to Calueque and Ruacana, potential habitats were identified but no cranes were seen. Spectacular scenery abounded in the Kunene floodplain with multiple exciting aquatic bird sightings noted. However the real surprise came when after fitting tracking antennae onto the 206 in Ondangwa, a strong signal from the marked bird was picked up and followed. After a brief tracking period we swooped down into the southern Oponono area and found no less than thirty eight blue cranes. This group comprised no less than half of the Namibian crane population and is the largest group seen in Namibia for a very long time, if not ever.
A highly significant adjunct to this sighting was the report from MET staff of around 25 blue cranes, some two weeks prior near Mamili National Park in eastern Caprivi, some 900 km east of our sighting. It seems unlikely that the birds we located are the same given the distance and the known migrating behavior of cranes, but it cannot be completely excluded. As we speak, resolution and confirmation is being sought to this important sighting, and if the possibility of the two groups being the same can be eliminated, it could be said that in the last week of September 2007, the entire Namibian crane population was accounted for; in conservation terms something worthy of a national holiday.
Conrad Brain
Browse our RSS feed page and sign up for the most up to date news as it breaks.
More about Ongava Lodge
News by