Taiwan to return red-crowned crane to China via South Korea

Taiwan plans to return a Chinese red-crowned crane, stranded in Taiwan for three years owing to Taiwan-China tension, to China via South Korea, the Taipei Zoo said Thursday. The Seoul Grand Park has notified the Taipei Zoo that it is willing to receive the bird, nicknamed Dan Dan, and release it into the wild after a period of rehabilitation, zoo director Chen Pao- chung said. As the red-crowned crane is listed an endangered species by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Seoul Grand Park has obtained an import permit for Dan Dan. The Taipei Zoo will apply to CITES for the export permit for Dan Dan and then send Dan Dan to the Seoul Grand Park. The Seoul Grand Park will train Dan Dan in survival skills before releasing it into the wild in 2009. Dan Dan was shot and injured by a hunter in Taiwan in 2004, and was sent to the Taipei Zoo for treatment. Since then, it has been staying at the Taipei Zoo, pending repatriation to China where it is believed to have originated. Repatriation has been stalled due to the tension across the Taiwan Strait. Now that the Seoul Grand Park is willing to accept Dan Dan, the Taipei Zoo hopes that Dan Dan can return to the wild and eventually return to its birthplace in China. The red-crowned crane has a red head, dark neck and legs and white wings. Its natural habits are China, Russia, North and South Korea and Japan. Gentle in nature and gracious in movement, it has been regarded by Asians since ancient times as an auspicious bird. Some Asian families hang paintings of it to symbolize peace and longevity. dpa dc sc