Japan loses its oldest wild red-crowned crane after road collision
A 35-year-old male red-crowned crane, the oldest known in the wild and tagged as T26, was discovered dead on a public road in Nemuro, Hokkaido, after being hit by a vehicle.
In June, a nonprofit research and conservation group in Hokkaido located the body of T26, a male red-crowned crane born in June 1991, on a public road in Nemuro, eastern Hokkaido. At 35 years old, the bird was the oldest wild individual of the species ever recorded, according to government and other sources. Red-crowned cranes, which are protected by cultural properties legislation, normally live about a decade in the wild.
Their numbers have rebounded to over 2,000 in Hokkaido, prompting the Environment Ministry to delist them from the endangered category this year. The expanding population has increased encounters with vehicles and trains, raising collision risks. Kunikazu Momose of the Red-crowned Crane Conservancy emphasized that a 35-year record offers insights into the crane's seasonal habits, enriching understanding beyond simple population counts.
Why it matters
The crane's death underscores new threats to a recovering species as wildlife increasingly shares roads with human traffic.
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