The People’s Committee of Dong Thap Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region on Thursday announced the approval of a project to construct aviaries for red-crowned cranes, at a cost of over VND11.6 billion (US$470,500), as part of the second phase of a program to raise and conserve the vulnerable species.

The project covers an area of 36,620 square meters, comprising six crane breeding aviaries totaling 3,260 square meters, a 224-square-meters crane breeding research area, a 452-square-meters yard, as well as power and lighting systems, water supply systems, and greenery. 

Its construction is expected to finish in 2025.

This is part of the 2022-32 plan for conserving and developing red-crowned cranes at Tram Chim National Park, located in Dong Thap’s Tam Nong District.

Approved by the Dong Thap People’s Committee on November 3, 2023, the whole scheme requires close to VND185 billion ($7.5 million) in investment. 

Over the course of a decade, it aims to raise 100 cranes, with a minimum of 50 expected to survive and be capable of reproducing and thriving after their release into the wild.

Vietnam’s red-crowned cranes, whose scientific name is grus antigone, has been classified as vulnerable, the lowest of the three risk levels, in the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) following the most recent assessment in 2016, according to the IUCN website.

The bird is native to Nepal, Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Vietnam.

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