Wildlife rehab center uses genius technique to raise orphaned birds without human interaction: 'Incredibly successful'

Yahoo

16-03-2025

Thanks to a unique woven crane costume, a South African wildlife rehab center is teaching orphaned birds essential survival skills while preventing human imprinting, reported Upworthy.
The FreeMe Wildlife Midlands Centre uses puppets and crane costumes to help a critically endangered wattled crane chick learn natural behaviors without becoming dependent on humans. This approach allows wildlife professionals to care for vulnerable animals while preserving their wild instincts.
Many baby animals need to learn basic survival tasks from their mothers. When orphaned, they risk missing out on these lessons. The challenge for rehabilitators is providing care without creating attachments that could harm an animal's chances in the wild.
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"This is a vital part of the rehabilitation process. If one does not intimately understand the physiology, the ethology, and the psychology of one's subject, one cannot successfully rehabilitate it," FreeMe shared on its social media, according to Upworthy.
The center uses a puppet named Waldo attached to a worker's arm to demonstrate drinking from a pond. This method allows staff to mimic adult crane behavior precisely while hiding behind the costume.
Similar techniques have proved successful with other threatened species. According to Upworthy, one commenter noted: "This is exactly how the San Diego Zoo (amongst others) takes care of baby California condors so they don't imprint. Since they were so critically endangered and almost extinct in the wild, they used puppets to teach them how to be birds so they could be released and rebound their populations. And they were incredibly successful!"
The approach works with common birds too. "When I've rescued baby pigeons often they won't peck seeds unless there are other birds around, soo sometimes I'll put on a YouTube video of birds eating and then they get it," another person shared.
These thoughtful rehabilitation techniques help vulnerable animals develop necessary skills while maintaining the required distance for eventual release.As FreeMe states on its website, the purpose of wildlife rehabilitation is "to rehabilitate these animals so that they may be released back into the wild in areas free from poaching and with reduced human activity."
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