Captive breeding of Demoiselle Crane in Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. - T. Mahmood, N. Amin, M. Rais. - Berkut. 20 (1-2). 2011. - P. 153-158.
Cranes are important birds migrating to Pakistan, their four species were recorded here in the past including Demoiselle, Eurasian, Sarus and Siberian Cranes. However, more recently only Demoiselle and Eurasian species have been found to visit Pakistan while the other two are rarely seen. For the last few decades, a decline in the crane populations has been observed worldwide. In such circumstances, their captive breeding can play a valuable role for the conservation and restoration of their populations. The current study, therefore, investigated the success of captive breeding of Demoiselle Crane in Lakki Marwat area. Three different sites were selected; each having maintained three pairs of breeding Demoiselle Cranes. The effect of specific food type on breeding success of the crane species was investigated by providing them three different kinds of feed (carbohydrates, combination of carbohydrates and proteins, and open feed) during their breeding season. The breeding success was compared through the results of three different captive breeding techniques used; natural incubation, multiple clutching and artificial insemination. A comparison of the results about clutch size, hatching success and survival rates at the three selected sites showed that cranes consuming a variety of foods from open fields (Site-III) had highest breeding success (hatching success 88.9%, and survival rate 87.5%) than those who received either single (carbohydrates only) or two types (carbohydrates and proteins) of food. The cranes of site-I that consumed only carbohydrates-containing food showed least breeding success (hatching success 40.0%, survival rate 50.0%). A comparison of breeding techniques revealed that multiple clutching and natural incubation as the most successful techniques (85.7% and 85.0% hatching success and 83.3% and 66.7% survival rate, respectively).
Key words: Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo, food, hatching success, survival rate.
Address: T. Mahmood, Department of Wildlife Management, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan; e-mail: tariqjanjua75@uaar.edu.pk.