By NAOYUKI MORI/ Staff Writer
November 22, 2017 at 18:05 JST
HIMEJI, Hyogo Prefecture--A pair
of cranes are causing amazement by feeding a wild gray heron through their
enclosure by the beak, a rare sight even for experts.
The act of compassion between
species at Himeji City Zoo here has drawn a crowd at weekends.
The young gray heron appears
almost daily in front of the cranes’ pen around 11 a.m. when the captive birds
are fed treats of mackerel.
“I have never heard of such a
story,” said Hiroyuki Masatomi, an expert in Japanese crane biology.
“(Feeding) is supposed to be an
act between parents and their offspring. The cranes probably treat the gray heron
as a substitute.”
The female crane, Ku, and male
Sho are both 30 years old, a very advanced age in human terms.
The pair previously started to
pass food to another wild gray heron around summer 1993 until the bird stopped
visiting them around 2011.
The gray heron that is being fed
is thought to be a different individual. It started to visit the cranes in late
October, and has continued to return ever since.
“We want visitors to witness this
rare sight with warm eyes,” said a zookeeper.
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