Vladimir Putin 'flies with endangered cranes in Siberia'
AP September 06, 20123:22PM
Russian President Vladimir Putin flies in a motorized hang glider alongside two Siberian white cranes, on the Yamal Peninsula, in Russia. Picture: AP/RIA-Novosti/ Alexei Druzhinin/ Presidential Press Service Source: AP
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin flew a motorized hang-glider to lead a flock of endangered young Siberian white cranes on part of their migration to Asia.
The cranes, raised in captivity, do not know how to fly south, and environmentalists have to devise an imitation lead crane to show them the way.
Wearing a helmet and a white suit to mimic an adult crane, Putin took to the skies three times and was twice followed by the cranes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin comes into land in a motorized hang glider on the Yamal Peninsula, in Russia. Picture: AP/RIA-Novosti/ Presidential Press Service
RIA-Novosti news agency reported that only one crane followed Putin on his first flight, which he attributed to high winds that caused the hang glider to travel faster than usual.
Russian President Vladimir Putin waits in a motorized hang glider next to a Siberian white cranebefore lleading a flock of endangered cranes, which were raised in captivity, on their migration to Asia. Picture: AP/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service
His white billowy outfit reminded the birds of their parents, according to the director of the game preserve that reared the cranes from when they were chicks.
“For cranes, the parent is a man in a white robe,” director Yuri Markintold Russian News Service, a radio network.
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“They don’t remember a particular person. They remember the white robe and hood, or on the ultralight, a white helmet - and a special beak that is worn on the head.”
Putin stopped off at the Kushavet ornithological research station on the Yamal Peninsula on his way to an international summit in Vladivostok.
Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of macho stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested.
Some of the stunts, such as petting a polar bear tranquilized in the wild, have purported scientific connections. But Putin last year was caught short when one of the events was revealed to be a set-up.
In that case, Putin was shown scuba diving and bringing up fragments of ancient Greek amphorae. But Peskov later admitted the artifacts had been planted on the sea floor for Putin to grab.
The stunts irritate Putin's opponents, who regard them not as benign political entertainment but as part of an establishment of a cult of personality lionizing an authoritarian leader.
Masha Gessen, author of a book critical of Putin, left her post as editor of the travel and science magazine Vokrug Sveta (Around the World) this week, claiming she was fired for refusing to send a reporter 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) northwest of Moscow to Yamal Peninsula to cover Putin's flight with the cranes.
A statement from the magazine Tuesday said she left by agreement with management because of 'differences'' on the separation of editorial and publishing powers.
Vokrug Sveta works closely with the Russian Geographical Society, whose board of trustees is chaired by Putin.
