More than three centuries after it disappeared from Ireland, the common crane has returned to the island nation. A bird that is part of its folklore and was a popular pet during medieval times.
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A pair of cranes was spotted last year on a restored peat bog –a type of wetland that is mostly found in northern latitude countries. The birds are in Ireland’s Midlands region, but their exact location has been kept secret to protect them.
Cranes stand at 4 feet tall with a wingspan of over 7 feet, and used to be the largest birds in Ireland. Although they were once common, the destruction of their habitat saw them disappear around the 16th and 17th century.
Bogs (also called quagmires) are soft, spongy wetlands that accumulate peat– a fossil fuel that is used for heating homes and businesses in northern Europe. They are formed in northern climates, and take thousands of years to develop.
Bogs also act as carbon sinks, sequestering around 200 million tons of carbon from the environment in Siberia and Scandinavia.