Birdman Putin flies with rare cranes
RUSSIA: At the controls of a hang-glider and dressed in
billowing white overalls, Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the
skies above Siberia to guide endangered birds on their winter migration
path, the Kremlin said Thursday.
In his latest brush with wild nature aimed at burnishing the Russian
leader’s action-man image, Putin flew above the Yamal peninsula in the
far north of Siberia alongside a group of migrating Siberian cranes.
State television broadcast the spectacular images of Putin flying
high above Siberia as its top news story but the stunt also risks being
mercilessly mocked by increasingly confident opposition bloggers.
The group of Siberian cranes had been raised in captivity at the
Kushevat ornithological station on Yamal and Putin’s task in his
hang-glider was to pose as a giant bird to guide them on the correct
migration route south after their release.
“Let’s quickly make our roles clear -- I am the alpha-crane!” a
popular cartoon already doing the rounds on the Russian Internet showed
a caricature Putin telling a group of puzzled-looking cranes.
After failing to attract the cranes in a first flight, Putin managed
to pick up a group of five birds on his second flight and helped direct
them on their path towards Central Asia.
Putin’s white outfit was designed so he himself looked like a crane
while the wings of his motorised hang-glider were black and white --
like a giant Siberian crane.
“It is amazing how the birds get used to it,” Putin told state
television after landing, still dressed in his pilot’s outfit of helmet
and goggles.
“They do not fear the hang-glider and they overtook it. They are
amazing. It’s a very good feeling.” AFP |