Project aims to reintroduce Great Bustard

A pair of Great Bustards will soon be arriving at Birdworld in Surrey, as part of a project to reintroduce the species to British wildlife.

The heaviest flying animals alive today, Great Bustards were hunted to extinction in England by the 1840s and are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Globally Threatened Species.

Although plenty of suitable habitat remains for the Great Bustard in Britain, it is unlikely that re-colonisation will occur without human intervention.

The Great Bustard Group (GBG) was set up in 1998 to explore the possibility of  reintroducing the species and creating a self-sustaining population.

Having carried out successful releases and made encouraging progress with breeding in the wild, GBG has added to and annually monitored the Great Bustard population in the UK since 2004.

Based in Wiltshire, GBG has received ongoing support from Birdworld, a large bird park in Surrey which will soon become home to the pair of Great Bustards.

Birdworld curator, Duncan Bolton, said: "We are very pleased with this opportunity to reinforce our links with the GBG and hope to play an active role in the re-establishment of this fantastic species into the English countryside."

The pair of Great Bustards cannot be released into the wild and will be kept in an aviary at Birdworld. The park plans to convert one of its public paddock viewing centres to a Bustard centre.

Image © David Kjaer