Hlatikulu Crane Sanctuary

About Hlatikulu Crane Sanctuary

The Hlatikulu Crane and Wetland Sanctuary is a rescue, rehabilitation and captive breeding facility for all three of South Africa's cranes – the blue crane, wattled crane and grey crowned crane.

Did you know? The sanctuary has an adoption scheme allowing people to adopt a bird

It is located at Hlatikulu Vlei, Giant's Castle, between Kamberg and Highmoor in the Drakensberg.

The vlei is also home to just under another 80 species of birds, a veritable feast of bird watching with specials like Denham's bustard, the Cape vulture, African marsh harrier and freckled nightjar. As a result the vlei forms a very important part of the Southern KwaZulu-Natal Bird Route.

Injured or poisoned cranes are brought to the sanctuary from the surrounding areas, the natural habitat of all three cranes but in particular the wattled crane, which is critically endangered in South Africa.

There are only around 90 pairs of wattled cranes in the country who are exceptionally dependent on quality wetlands to breed. Most of the wattled cranes in South African are found in the KZN highlands. Yet scientists estimate that around 80% of the wetlands have been degraded to the point where the birds can no longer use them for breeding.

Hlatikulu is part of the Wattled Crane Recovery Programme, co-ordinated by the Jo'burg Zoo. The wattled crane eggs come from the vlei and the surrounding areas.

As a rule wattled cranes lay one egg, and then a couple of days later possibly a second. However they begin incubating as soon as the first egg is laid, meaning that it develops ahead of any second egg. As soon as the first egg hatches, the chick and the parents leave the nest, in effect abandoning the second egg.

Field workers watch the nests and once the first is hatched they remove the second, incubate it in Pietermaritzburg, and then fly it to Johannesburg where they are raised at the Zoo using puppets and costumes to prevent any human imprinting.

The sanctuaries adoption scheme allows people to adopt a bird for 6 months to a year. The fee includes living expenses of a crane, an adoptive 'parent' sign on the bird's pen, and regular updates.