Vietnam partners with Thailand to save threatened crane species

The Vietnam Zoos Association has partnered with the Zoological Park Organisation (ZPO) of Thailand to increase the population of the Eastern Sarus Crane in Vietnam.

The agreement, signed through a memorandum of understanding (MoU), also involves cooperation from the People's Committee of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap and the International Crane Foundation.

The ZPO has been reintroducing the Eastern Sarus Crane to Thailand since 2009, with breeding and release into the natural wetlands of Buri Ram province.

ZPO Director-General Attapon Srihayun said the organisation is striving to bring them back from the brink of extinction into their natural habitat.

The population of the bird in Vietnam is still at risk of extinction, which is why the MoU aims to restore their number in the Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap province.

The partnership will involve breeding and transferring captive-reared juvenile sarus cranes from the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo for release in Vietnam, as well as training staff and developing captive-rearing facilities and a release and monitoring system.