These birds are a true symbol of Africa: the majestic gray crowned crane's image is found in memorabilia, clothing and souvenirs in the East African countries, being also the mascot of the national soccer team. And perhaps many associate this superb bird with the savanna and African documentaries.

But traditional beliefs, poaching and habitat loss have brought a bleak future for this bird. In just 10 years, the Ugandan crane population has decreased from 50,000 to 20,000.

"The gray crowned crane is getting in more and more trouble," said Achilles Byaruhanga, director of the Kampala-based nonprofit organization Nature Uganda, co-author of a report with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and the International Crane Foundation. The research was made from April to September 2007 in southern Uganda, close to the Tanzanian border.

The team encountered over 40 dead cranes in the shrines of traditional healers, which cooperated with the team only by remaining anonymous, as crane use for medicinal purposes is illegal in Uganda.

"Because cranes mate for life, local people believe marriages and relationships will last longer if people consume the feathers and eggs of the birds," said a traditional healer who lives near the state of Masaka (southwestern Uganda).

Crashed crane eggs mixed with herbs are offered as a "love potion", while a bird's feathers, claws and beaks are used in drinks and as decorations for strengthening monogamy and affection, but also as an omen that keeps evil spirits away from children.

Tanzanian poachers from Tanzania run one of the biggest wildlife businesses in Africa: illegally trapping Ugandan cranes. Birds are poisoned or captured with rough tools, like metallic traps. Their wings can be cut. Living birds are then transported, often crowded and hungry in wire mesh cages, across Lake Victoria into Tanzania to be sold as pets in Europe: the prices are of at least $ 30 U.S. for chicks and $ 20 for adults.

"But not all the cranes survive being captured. To catch a hundred cranes, you have to kill four or five times as many in the process," said Byaruhanda.

Because parents are often captured together with the young, future generations are endangered. Gray crowned cranes inhabit the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and parts of South Africa.

The Ugandan government too is blamed for making no efforts to protect the wetlands where the crane lives; increasingly more wetlands in western Uganda are turned into rice paddies.

"The crowned crane is systematically being displaced. The animals often end up outside of protected areas," said Moses Mapesa, director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Nature Uganda and other regional African wildlife groups are attempting to educate traditional communities on how to preserve what's left of the wetlands.

"This is our national symbol," said Mapesa.