A rewilding group are looking at the idea of bringing white storks back to London. Here's the skinny...
Don't we already have storks in London?
Not really. You might be thinking of the captive pelicans in St James's Park, or possibly the similarly shaped egret, occasionally seen in quieter waterways.
But they used to live in the London area?
Yes, in ancient times, when the city was much smaller. The birds were once widespread throughout the UK, but disappeared around 600 years ago through hunting and habitat loss.
I'm sure I saw one once? Are they really, fully, totally extinct in the UK?
No. Storks do sometimes wander over this way from the continent. It's entirely possible to spot one, particularly in quiet wetlands, but they remain a rarity. They haven't bred here for centuries, however.
So what's happening now?
A group called Citizen Zoo has plans to reintroduce the birds to the London area. They want to build on recent successes by the White Stork Project, which has created small colonies at Knepp and Wadhurst Park in Sussex, as an attractor for birds from the continent. They managed to get a couple of birds to breed in 2020, resulting in what may be the first stork hatchlings in Britain since medieval times.
Citizen Zoo? They sound familiar
You may have read about their beaver work. Citizen Zoo recently helped to bring beavers back to the London area, establishing a colony in Ealing after an absence of around 400 years. And they're breeding (the beavers, not Citizen Zoo... so far as we know).
Can white cranes build a home in London?
Almost certainly. The leggy birds have thrived in similar European settings and London, with its copious green spaces and waterways, should be a good fit. Since the start of the Sussex project in 2016, some 472 sightings of wild cranes have been reported in the London area. That's up from just 27 over the four decades before that. They're definitely up for it.
So what's next?
Citizen Zoo are conducting research into Londoners' attitudes to the birds, as well as scoping out possible habitats. If you're a resident or frequent visitor to the city, and over 18, you might like to take their short survey... no previous experience of crane pondering necessary.
