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Wattled Crane DOWNLISTED
African Birdlife
|July/August 2025
A major conservation win
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The Wattled Crane, one of the most threatened bird species in Africa, has been downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered in South Africa, marking an important milestone for conservation. This achievement is the result of decades of dedicated effort by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) in partnership with the International Crane Foundation, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, farmers, landowners and other conservation organisations.
The change in the Wattled Crane’s conservation status was reflected in the latest IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, published in May. In 2015, only 267 Wattled Cranes were recorded in the annual aerial survey of KwaZulu-Natal. By 2024, that number had increased to 304 - still a small and vulnerable population, but one that is no longer in decline.
This story is from the July/August 2025 edition of African Birdlife.
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