Common cranes have been reintroduced to the UK after centuries of absence. Their welfare as reintroduced animals and their growing wild population requires monitoring and management.
Crane reintroduction welfare involves the challenge of rearing birds for release without compromising their wild behaviour through human imprinting. The costumed handler protocol used at Slimbridge is ingenious but not perfect - some birds showed partial imprinting that affected post-release survival. The welfare of successfully wild-living cranes depends on the availability of safe wetland roosting sites, productive agricultural foraging, and freedom from persecution. Power line collisions - a significant crane mortality cause across Europe - represent a preventable welfare and conservation threat requiring infrastructure modification.