Editing WWT Slimbridge (section)

==Projects==
[[file:slimbridge.in.july.arp.jpg|thumb|The main buildings and Sloane Observation Tower in July. The majority of the birds are [[mute swan]]s]]
[[File:Crane (Grus grus) Slimbridge.jpg|thumb|Common crane at Slimbridge]]
Before the establishment of the WWT reserve at Slimbridge, no Bewick's swans were regularly wintering on the Severn Estuary. In 1948, one arrived at Slimbridge, perhaps attracted by a captive [[whistling swan]]. A mate for this bird was acquired from the Netherlands and the pair eventually successfully bred. More wild Bewick's swans joined the group so that by 1964, more than thirty wild swans were present. So that the birds could be better studied, the tame resident swans were relocated to an easily observable lake. Peter Scott realised that every bird had a unique patterning of black and yellow on its beak by which individual birds could be recognised. These were recorded in small paintings with front and side views (rather like "[[mug shot]]s") to aid recognition. By 1989, over six thousand swans had been recorded visiting the site, and by this means, much research was made possible on the birds.<ref name=Bell>{{cite book|author=Bell, Catharine E.|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1186|year=2001|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-174-9|pages=1186–1187|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111141035/http://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1186|url-status=live}}</ref>


An early success story in the 1950s was the saving of the [[Nene (bird)|nene]] (or Hawaiian goose) from [[extinction]].<ref name=history/> Birds were brought to the site and breeding at Slimbridge was successful. Initial releases into the wild in [[Hawaii]] were a failure however, because the nene's natural habitat was not protected from the [[Predation|predators]] that had been introduced to the islands by man. Once that problem was alleviated, successful reintroduction became possible.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kear, Janet|author2=Berger, A.J|title=The Hawaiian Goose|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5iPqStIw9LIC&pg=PA79|year=2010|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4081-3758-1|pages=79–114|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818182216/https://books.google.com/books?id=5iPqStIw9LIC&pg=PA79|url-status=live}}</ref>

During [[Queen Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth]]'s 1951 tour of Canada, she was promised a [[Dominion]] gift of [[trumpeter swan]]s, the arrangements to be made by Peter Scott.<ref name=stowe14>[[Leland Stowe]] (1957). ''Crusoe of Lonesome Lake'', Victor Gollancz, Ltd, London, 1958. Chapter 14: "The Saga of the Trumpeter Swans", pg.162–178.</ref> Canadian officials discovered the only swans tame enough to capture were at Lonesome Lake in [[British Columbia]] as they had been fed for decades by conservationist [[Ralph Edwards (conservationist)|Ralph Edwards]].<ref name=stowe14/> In 1952, with the help of Ralph and his daughter Trudy, five were captured and flown to England, the first time trumpeter swans had ever flown across the Atlantic (although in the 19th century swans had been brought by ship to European zoos).<ref name=stowe14/> One unfortunately died, but the remaining four thrived at WWT Slimbridge for many years.<ref name=stowe14/>

Slimbridge has also been involved in trying to increase population levels of common cranes, which had bred spasmodically in Britain since the late 1970s. A specially built "Crane School" is used where the young birds are taught to forage and avoid danger. This project has led to 23 birds being released onto the Somerset Moors and Levels in September 2013,<ref name=birdwatch>{{cite news |title=Cranes fighting fit and ready for release |url=http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__14715 |newspaper=Birdwatch |date=23 August 2013 |access-date=28 August 2016 |archive-date=17 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917102738/http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__14715 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and 93 being released by the end of 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/ |title=The Great Crane Project |access-date=28 August 2016 |archive-date=1 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001161845/http://thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2016, a researcher from Slimbridge is planning to become a "human swan" and follow migrating Bewick's swans using a powered [[paraglider]].<ref>{{cite news |title="Human swan" conservationist takes to skies on 4,600-mile migration |author=McKie, Robin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/03/human-swan-bewicks-falling-numbers |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 September 2016 |access-date=5 September 2016 |archive-date=5 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905082344/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/03/human-swan-bewicks-falling-numbers |url-status=live }}</ref> She plans to try to find out the hazards they face during migration and why their numbers have halved in the last twenty years. The {{convert|4500|mi|km|-2|abbr=on}} mission from the Arctic tundra of Russia to Slimbridge is expected to last for ten weeks.<ref>{{cite news |title='Human swan' Sacha Dench to join 4,500-mile migration |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36138082 |newspaper=BBC News |date=26 April 2016 |access-date=28 August 2016 |archive-date=17 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017145734/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36138082 |url-status=live }}</ref>