A fully equipped chick-rearing home has been opened to breed wattled cranes, one of five critically endangered birds in South Africa, at the Johannesburg Zoo.

Wattled cranes will be bred at the zoo and then released in the wild

Consisting of a fully completed food preparation area, seven individually climate-controlled indoor pens, seven exteriors, exercise pens and a large enclosed socialisation area, the facility is going to be used for breeding wattled cranes which in the past few years have become endangered species.

Johannesburg Zoo CEO Jenny Gray said, "We truly believe in the wattled cranes and feel it is important that these birds be bred here".

Wattled cranes are one of the five critically endangered birds in South Africa and are the most endangered crane species on the African continent. Loss of habitat and poor reproductiveness have caused a 35 percent decline in the South African wattled crane population over the last two decades.

According to project co-ordinator for the Wattled Crane Recovery Programme at the Johannesburg Zoo, Jeane Marie Pittman, the new facility is aimed at reversing the trend towards local extinction of the wattled cranes by breeding them at the zoo.

The Wattled Crane Recovery Programme has been established to build up a viable captive flock of wattled cranes with 40 individuals as quickly as possible in order to serve as a genetic reservoir in case of a terrible extinction of birds in the wild.

Wattled cranes typically lay a clutch of one or two eggs and one egg is abandoned, hence the programme. "It is important for us to work with these birds," said Gray.

Through the programme five chicks are currently being puppet-reared in the new facility at the zoo, with "Jozi" being the first captive-bred wattled crane to hatch in South Africa in 10 years on Friday, 1 September.

After the programme, Gray says they want to release them into the wild where there are usually flocks of 40. "We are committing ourselves to a long-term project".

Gray said they are extremely happy that the sponsors saw the need to become part of the course and hope that their relationship will progress to looking after decaying wildlife in general.