Saratov wingS in

great Britain
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the goal of life iS living in agreement with nature Zeno, Greek philosopher

Introduction

When we start to think about the project we wanted to find the theme which connects our own region and Great Britain. That was the difficult aim. At first we tried to find some historical events, but suddenly we found the other information.

We learned at the Geography lessons about the symbol of our region bustard. And we were very surprised when suddenly saw that bird on the flag and on the blazon of Wiltshire. It was interesting to know how our symbol could appear on the flag and blazon of English county.
Our project is dedicated to the extinct symbol of the county Wiltshire. This bird is drawn on the flag and blazon of the county. It is the bustard.

Chapter 1 Wiltshire History and Its Flag

Wiltshire (Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. Wiltshire is characterized by its high downland and wide valleys. Salisbury Plain is famous as the location of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles. The original name of the county rises to the 9-th century from the name of the river Wylye.

The "Bustard flag" was created in 2007. It is partly based on the flag of the Wiltshire County. The colours can represent hope, joy and safety (green) and peace (white). An image of the Great Bustard stands at the centre of the flag. This bird had been extinct in England since 1832. Salisbury Plain, at the heart of the county, is one of only two areas in Great Britain in which the Great Bustard originally lived.

Chapter 2 Great Bustard

The Great Bustard is a large bird in the Bustard family. Great Bustards can fly, and are the heaviest flying animal alive today. Male Great Bustards reaches up to one meter tall and weighing up to 16kg.

The head and neck are pale blue-grey; the body and tail are brown with black bars, and under parts white. The wings of the Great Bustard are mostly white with dark. Males in breeding plumage grow large white moustachial whiskers (20cm long). The Great Bustard is omnivorous, meaning it eats both animal and plant matter. They take young shoots, leaves, flowers, ripe and unripe seeds but occasionally also roots, berries and fruits.

Nesting

Great Bustards nest on the ground, making a small depression and sometimes lining it with a few pieces of vegetation. Two eggs are normally laid. Eggs weigh about 150g. They vary in colour from grey to green or brownish, with darker blotches.

Chicks are about 20 cm long and weigh about 100g. They are grey with dark brown or black markings. By three months they are able to fly. Great Bustards are most likely to have evolved in dry tropical grassland plains, but since mans extensive forest clearances and cultivation of land, open habitat has increased.

Chapter 3 Bringing back the Bustard by Great Bustard Group

Great Britain, the same as many other countries, tries to establish a selfsustaining population of bustards in the UK. The bustard is listed as Vulnerable in the Red List of Globally Threatened Species.

The Great Bustard Group (GBG) is the UK Registered Charity which tries to establish population of bustards in the UK and create practical conservation measures for Great Bustards in Saratov, Russia. The head of this group is David Waters, a well-known British stage manager-director (the author of documentary films about wild nature).

Great Bustards were formerly very much part of British wildlife before they were finally hunted out of existence in Britain by the 1840s. They are currently listed as Vulnerable in Red List of Globally Threatened Species.

The Great Bustard Group was set up in 1998 to explore the possibility of reintroducing the Great Bustard to the UK. The study took several years to compile and investigated all academic and practical research on Great Bustards and reintroductions in general. In 2003, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued a 10-year triallicence to release Great Bustards in the UK. Releases have taken place annually since 2004.

Saratov wings in the UK

Great Bustards for the UK reintroduction come from the population in the Russian Federation. This is the second largest population in the world, estimated at 8,000 individuals. This population is centred in the Trans-Volga region of southern Russia, principally Saratov region. Since the 1980s The A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution have been collecting eggs from doomed nests and incubating them.

The Institute is now running a captive rear and release project instead, releasing Great Bustards back into the wild in Russia and also providing the chicks for the UK reintroduction. And now the nestings which were grown up in Saratov and brought to Salisbury start to produce new generation of English Great Bustard.

Conclusion
Analyzing all our project we come to the following conclusion: We get to know that the county Wiltshire is famous not only for Stonehenge and its medieval cathedral and many historically important mansions and beautiful nature but also for Great Bustard brought from our Saratov region. The co-operation between different countries plays the main part in the saving of wild nature.

We must take care of not only disappearing animals but of all ones. Because now days these species are numerous but in some years they can be extinct. It is necessary to open groups of establishing population of different animals. The wild nature of our region is similar to the wild nature of Great Britain.

Thank you very much for your attention!