With Co-Founder George Archibald.

June 23, at 11 a.m. Central Time. Click here to register.

Cranes are admired, respected, and held as sacred in several traditional cultures. For example, in western China, the Tibetans consider the Black-necked Crane a sacred bird often linked to spiritual events. As a result, the cranes are not disturbed, have become tolerant of the proximity of local people, and major wintering sites have been protected.

In northern Russia, people who live near Siberian Cranes credit these birds with spiritual powers to drive away evil spirits and to bring both happiness and physical healing. As a result, large protected areas have been established to protect both indigenous people and the cranes.

In Turkey, the Semah of the Alevi people perform a ritual dance that has become a prayer mimicking the movements of Eurasian and Demoiselle Cranes. In addition, efforts are underway to protect wetlands where Eurasian Cranes breed.

Some aboriginal groups in Australia paint themselves with iron oxide clay to produce a color that mimics the color of the Brolgas, the Australian crane. Then they dance around fires to connect to the spirit world. These people protect the cranes.

Conservationists were amazed in 1978 when a small flock of Siberian Cranes was discovered wintering in the center of one of the last surviving traditional waterfowl trapping areas in Iran. The return of Siberian Cranes to this site entirely depends upon protecting a large central wetland where migratory birds winter.