A record number of cranes bred in the UK last year as the once-vanished bird continues its comeback. Cranes went extinct in the country around 400 years ago as a result of over-hunting and the loss of their favoured wetland habitat. But wild recolonisation from Europe since the late 1970s, backed by efforts to protect existing habitat and create new wetlands – along with a concerted reintroduction scheme that saw conservationists dress as cranes to hand-rear young birds - has enabled the bird to