The discovery of two new-born sarus crane chicks in the Huai Chorakhe Mak Non-Hunting area in Buri Ram two months ago has prompted a plan by the Zoological Park Organisation (ZPO) to have the birds de-listed as an extinct species.
Instead, they look set to be reclassified with critical endangered status, as the ZPO lauds villagers' efforts in bringing them back to the wild.
The organisation said the discovery showed the cranes it has released into the wild have begun to breed.
Dusit Zoo director Sumate Kamolnorranath said staff had released 72 cranes since 2011 in the non-hunting areas of Huai Charakhe Mak, the Sanambin reservoir and Huai Talat reservoir in Muang district.
A team of specialists found the new-born chicks in Huai Charakhe Mak, raising hopes there could be more of them. He said the cranes were listed as extinct a long time ago.
"We are raising the issue with the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, which is responsible for the listing. The crane's ability to propagate in the wild is key to a possible upgrade to the critical endangered [re-introduction] status," he said Thursday.
According to the ZPO, it has managed to track 42 of the 72 released cranes. The plan is to free at least 12 more birds in the same place by early next year.
It has been working with a team from Kasetsart University who are estimating the crane population as the ZPO looks to release the cranes in other areas in the future.
Thongpol Onchat, chief of Ban Sawai Sor in Muang district, who leads efforts to preserve the cranes, said his village and nearby areas were major habitats of the crane for over 40 years. The birds disappeared from the village after they were hunted by residents.
He said he was happy to see the sarus cranes making a comeback and hoped to see more of them in the wild.
He added the discovery of the chicks proved the cranes could live and breed in the local forest as they did in the past.
Suriya Saengpong, the ZPO acting director, said the organisation has villagers to thank for helping save a species on the brink of extinction. It has also offered to support the local community in the preservation of the cranes.
The organisation has spent around one million baht to buy locally grown organic rice from farmers under the government's scheme to help farmers suffering from a slump in rice prices.