japanese crane reserve

来到钏路一定会想看丹顶鹤，因为整个城市都在替丹顶鹤打广告，让旅客觉得如果来这里没看到丹顶鹤一定很可惜。其实从我这次的旅行经验来看，钏路的郊外还满容易遇到丹顶鹤的，所以如果只是想跟丹顶鹤见见面其实也不一定要特别来这里，但是来这里的话可以比较近距离的看到丹顶鹤，也许会有不同的发现或感受。这个园区已经很有历史了，所以设备上偏旧了一些，里头除了丹顶鹤以外也没眷养其他动物，除了丹顶鹤以外，整体来说并不是算很有特色的地方。

地方很小，历史悠久（所以设施也有点老旧），隔着铁丝网看丹顶鹤有点意犹未尽，也只有丹顶鹤可以看。我们造访的时间是夏季，仅有此处可以看到丹顶鹤，冬季或许有更好的选择。

在这里可以近距离观看到日本鹤。但也只有日本鹤可看。入口处有个关于日本鹤及这块保护区的展览厅。但只有一小段信息是关于鹤的。如果他们能提供更多信息的话,会好很多。

It takes about an hour by bus from the centre of Kushiro to reach the reserve. It was a good opportunity to observe these birds up close and there were 2 chicks (same size as the parents) on view. We were also treated to a wild bird flying over head which caused great excitement and several herons. This is a must if you want to see the cranes and have limited time. That said as we were taking a bus to Tsuraga we saw a field full of wild cranes as well as a couple of groups.

All these crane are captive and are in pair. The month that I visited is not the hight season for crane, nevertheless at least I saw one. Hopefully will see in the wild. Good experience.

Great place to bring kids along. When we visited this place on August, the baby crane has grown to almost the size of its parent. It was an interesting place to go see cranes! You will not regret it

When we were there, there were 2 couples (cranes) with a new baby. It was really wonderful to see how the crane parents take care of their young. It also reveals how vulnerable these majestic creatures are out in the open with eagle and other predators trying to take their food and take their young. For photo enthusiasts, this is definitely the place to catch priceless shots of them dancing, courting and display of love for the young.

We were here in May on a tour from a cruise ship. Our guide took us along a walk that borders the areas marked off for breeding pairs. We saw cranes in almost all of the areas. Though the walk is bordered by a chain link fence, there are holes cut in it so you can get unobstructed photos of the birds. We were accompanied by one of the people who worked there so we were able to ask all sorts of questions with our tour guide acting as interpreter. I found this very interesting and informative, though it is a small part of the island of Hokkaido, and well worth a visit.

We went to Kushiro during early April 2014 mainly to see the Japanese crane. On arrival we discovered that the crane feeding only occur in winter. During spring, summer and fall the cranes move to the marshes so it becomes a challenge to find any. Since we didn't have much time our hotel suggested the Japanese Crane Reserve near the airport. As it turned out it was on the same route 240 which was our next stop Lake Akan. The actual park name is Kushiroshi Tanchozuru Natural Park.Our drive to the park took 20 minutes (20 km) from the Crown Plaza Hotel though Google says 30. We arrived at the 9:30 AM opening. We were the only persons there during our 1 hour visit but 6 cars entered as we were leaving. There is a large fenced in area for each pair of cranes. The front part is clear of reeds. Should the cranes be in the reeds viewing is not possible. However each of the fenced in areas had cranes that we could see. I suppose they knew it was feeding time. They started to place food in each area at 9:45 AM. We were lucky! The cranes became very active to protect there food from other birds mainly hawks.The cost for both of us was under $10 USD. There is a gift center with some tourist stuff that can be purchased.I rated this attraction a 5 but if we were there in winter I may have made it a 4 especially if I saw the cranes at one of the winter feeding sites... Up close.

Although it is a bit staged, able to get great photos of the cranes. Can be very busy with photo enthusiasts so get there well before feeding time to capture your special spot. Able to see stellar sea eagles, white tailed eagles, a sly fox who stole fish and of course the beautiful cranes.

The Japanese Crane Reserve in Kushiro is home to many wild Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonesis). It’s basically this piece of land (i.e. breeding grounds) set aside for wild cranes and forms part of a conservation effort to preserve this species of cranes as Red-crowned cranes are amongst the rarest in the world. The actual reserve isn’t very large; it’s basically this whole row of metal fencing that is compartmentalised to create “rooms” for the different pairs of cranes. Mind you, the cranes are in fact wild, and they’re free to come and go as they please, so you have to be mentally prepared that they might not be around when you visit. A member of the staff gave us a guided tour around the reserve and she used samples of crane feathers and eggs to facilitate her explanation. Each of the “rooms” had boards with information on them too, so do take a moment to read some of the interesting facts about the red-crowned crane. Other than cranes, there isn’t anything else to see really, so you don’t actually have to spend a lot of time here (about an hour max). Past reviewers have also mentioned buses don’t come frequently either, so if you don’t have your own mode of transport, you might want to give this place a miss.

The place here is quite far away from Kushiro city, there is only 4 buses per day, departing from Kushiro station to here, during winter time. We took Taxi there (~5000 yen), coz we missed the early morning bus. There were not many cranes in the park. They were all kept in the fence, and each area contains only one or two crane(s). The park is extremely small with a total of <20 cranes. Most of them are injuries and do not fly. Do not expect to see many cranes or watch them dance in this park. We stay in the park for 3 hours (waiting for next bus), the only visitor in that period (12:30 to 15:50), is me and my wife!!The worst part of this park is the transportation. Better go with your car, or else you need to wait for hours for the bus. The bus station is far from the park entrance, there is no bus stop sign and you need to cross the highway! Luckily, the staff in the entrance showed us the way to the bus stop.

Many cranes there, they fly on the sky just like the dancers.

丹頂鶴が間近で見られます！サラサラでキラキラなパウダースノーと赤白黒の丹頂鶴のコントラストがとっても美しく１番好きです！周りはちょっと寂しいですが、ドライブの途中に寄るのも良いと思います！

釧路市内から空港に行く途中に時間があったので寄ってみました。フェンスごし、観察の穴ごしに丹頂鶴を観察できます。中には人なつこい鶴さんもいて、フェンス越しに一緒に歩いてくれました。こちらの鶴は鳥インフルなどの影響で、羽は飛べないように切ってあるそうですが、二年で生え変わるとのこと。季節が良いときにまたじっくり行きたいです。