Common cranes were extinct as breeding birds in the UK for 400 years before reintroduction through the Great Crane Project, with ongoing welfare challenges for reintroduced individuals establishing in new territories.
Captive-reared cranes require costume-rearing protocols to prevent imprinting on humans, which compromises post-release social integration and mate finding. Birds that imprint on humans fail to integrate into wild crane flocks and cannot breed successfully. Power line strikes cause severe traumatic injury — cranes that survive with wing injuries require long-term rehabilitation or permanent captive care. Cranes face predation pressure from foxes during ground-nesting, causing nest failure and adult injury.