Injured crane to leave for S Korea

After nearly four years of twists and turns in its fate, a rare red-crowned crane named Dan Dan (丹丹) will finally leave Taiwan for South Korea next week in preparation for an eventual release into the wild.

Dan Dan, now weighing 9kg and almost fully grown, is scheduled to depart for the South Korean capital of Seoul on Friday escorted by two veterinarians from the Taipei City Zoo, a zoo official said on Thursday.

The bird unwittingly "tres-passed" into the flight zone of Hsinchu and was injured by gunfire from air force personnel in September 2004.

It was later sent to the Taipei City Zoo for treatment, where it has remained since.

A bird of the colder climates of the north, Dan Dan will be sent to South Korea to get reacclimated to the weather there before being set free.

After years of living in the Taipei zoo, Dan Dan is now seven or eight years old -- just reaching "puberty." He has many years ahead of him as the life span of red-crowned cranes averages about 40 to 50 years.

His origin is unknown and it is unclear whether he will return to his flock or venture out into a new life of his own.

Taipei have decided to install a global positioning system tracker on Dan Dan, probably on his tail or leg, to better track where he travels after being released into the wild at the end next year, Chin Shih-chien (金仕謙), a spokesman for the zoo told reporters.

The Taipei City Zoo has tried in vain over the past three years to send Dan Dan to South Korea as the crane is on the protected list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Under the convention, consent from a receiving country is needed before animals on the list can be exported.

Authorities the Seoul Zoo -- which maintains sister ties with the Taipei City Zoo -- sent an import license to the Taipei City Zoo last September, bringing a silver lining to the return of Dan Dan.

As a result of the bird's injuries, and the fact that it has been kept in a cage for more than three years, Dan Dan has lost his ability to fly, Chin said.

The rare bird is expected to be released into a wildlife reservation zone located in the Demilitarized Zone between South Korea and North Korea, when the Seoul Zoo celebrates its 100th founding anniversary, Chin said.

From the Korean wildlife reservation zone, Dan Dan is likely to replenish himself before flying to his original habitat -- probably northeastern China, Siberia or China's Jiangsu Province, Chin said.

Suggestions been made about releasing Dan Dan into the wild in Taiwan, but Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said this was not feasible, as Taiwan was not its natural habitat.